Elon Musk talks new Tesla model to be designed in Europe: likely a small electric hatchback

Elon Musk made rare new comments about a new Tesla model to be designed in Europe, more specifically Berlin.

The CEO says that it’s likely going to be a small electric hatchback.

After Tesla announced its plan to build a Gigafactory in Berlin, CEO Elon Musk mentioned that Tesla was also going to establish a design center in Germany and design a new Tesla electric car locally with local talent.

Now Musk made rare comments about the upcoming new Tesla vehicle and said that an important reason behind the new vehicle program is to attract new talent from Europe:

“I think there’s a lot of talent, talented designers and engineers, in Europe. And a lot of the best people, they want to work somewhere where they are doing original design work. They don’t want to just be doing the European version of something that was designed in California. So, I think it’s important in order to attract the best talent to do original design.”

Tesla has been putting a lot of efforts into attracting top talent and it has been successful at it in its home country.

We recently reported that Tesla is the No. 1 most attractive company for engineering students in the US.

Here’s the interview and the moment when Musk makes the new comment on the upcoming Tesla model designed in Europe:

Furthermore, Musk commented on the vehicle segment that Tesla plans to address with a locally designed vehicle:

“In Europe, I think it would make sense to do I guess a compact car – perhaps a hatchback or something like that. Something that answers ‘what do most people want?’ in a given region. In the US, cars tend to be bigger for personal taste reasons and in Europe, it tends to be smaller. If you try to park in dense urban environments, having a car that fits in tight parking spaces is important.”

The CEO mentioned that he tried parking a Tesla Model X in Berlin and had issues finding an appropriate parking spot.

Musk didn’t offer a timeline for Tesla to design and build the new electric car in Germany, but it’s not expected to hit the market for at least a few more years as Tesla focuses on bringing the European Model Y to production at Gigafactory Berlin next year.