German medium-sized global market leaders play a decisive role for the new Tesla car factory "Gigafactory" in Grünheide, Brandenburg. This is revealed by a recent study by Prof. Dr. Jan-Philipp Büchler from the Faculty of Business Studies at Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts.
He analyzed job advertisements, patent applications, company videos - and used the findings to feed his "hidden champions database": as an expert in corporate management, Jan-Philipp Büchler was ultimately able to identify 21 companies from German-speaking countries that contribute machines and other key technology to the Tesla plant. The suppliers mainly come from North Rhine-Westphalia (39 percent) and Baden-Württemberg (33 percent), followed by Bavaria with 15 percent.
Suppliers with great innovative strength
"We haven't seen this level of innovation in production at Tesla in the automotive industry for decades," comments Jan-Philipp Büchler. Tesla sets high standards and German suppliers can shine with their innovative strength: According to the study, Tesla suppliers invest an average of ten percent of their turnover in research and development (R&D), significantly exceeding the already high rate of six percent for "hidden champions". By comparison, the average R&D ratio for DAX companies is 3.0 to 3.6 percent.