Tesla Could Scoop GM Factories

While everyone from Washington, D.C. to Main Street, USA, seems to be collectively outraged at GM’s announcement to shutter several factories, there’s a silver lining to the situation. Apparently Tesla, which is riding high on Model 3 sales, might want to buy all or some of them.

Elon Musk, the fiery and controversial CEO of Tesla, stated as much during an interview on TV show ‘60 Minutes’ over the weekend. That declaration caught some off guard, since apparently the assumption is those facilities would stay darkened and probably decaying for decades to come.

Consider this: Tesla put up a tent enclosure outside of its factory in Fremont, Calif., where the Model 3 is assembled, to deal with the demand for the most affordable vehicle in its lineup. With assembly issues seemingly in the past, Tesla could conceivably sell even more cars than before. Likely many interested shoppers have held off, wanting to see if Tesla could make good on its promise to crank out hundreds of thousands of Model 3s.

There’s another factor: GM might not want to sell. Just because some cars are being discontinued and factories where they’re assembled will be idled doesn’t mean new models won’t start rolling out the doors. Car factories idle all the time to update tooling or to adjust supply to more closely match demand. The fact of the matter is the majority of the mainstream media and the public at large is acting like this isn’t the case, even though GM hasn’t stated its long-term intentions for the five plants in the U.S. and Canada.