Tesla Struggles to Make Nice With European Engineering Firm's Jilted Clients
Tesla Motors has said it is making efforts to resolve outstanding issues with Grohmann Engineering’s legacy clients, including Daimler, BMW, Bosch, Intel, and Volkswagen Group. After the Tesla takeover last November, CEO Elon Musk indicated to Grohmann’s management team that the brunt of its efforts should be diverted away from former customers in order to focus primarily on production facilities related to the Model 3.
The move placed Musk at odds with company founder Klaus Grohmann, eventually resulting in his abrupt departure, and was a major source of tension among the German workforce — which, backed by IG Metall, has threatened to strike. Negotiations have already yielded improved worker pay and hiring promises, but Tesla now appears to be tackling the issue of how to handle the numerous clients who have been hung out to dry.
Tesla is counting heavily on Grohmann’s automation and engineering prowess to ramp up vehicle production. Initially, the U.S. EV manufacturer said it could manage without the German workforce, but that doesn’t seem to be the case — considering how well its collective bargaining tactics seem to have worked.
However, it’s unclear the exact lengths Tesla will go to make amends with Grohmann’s legacy clientele. “We have been in contact with every client for weeks on this issue and are on the way to finding individual solutions with each of them,” Tesla said in a Thursday statement to Reuters. However, any additional efforts to compensate former customers doesn’t serve the automaker beyond maintaining peace with Grohmann Engineering, and is counter to Musk’s initial plan to cut them lose.
“We believe that Grohmann will honor its contractual obligations toward us in future,” BMW said in a statement, before adding that it had not been “formally notified” about any changes to the contractual arrangements one-way-or-another.
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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