Four towns in the northern Netherlands – Hardenberg, Emmen, Coevorden and Hoogeveen – have joined forces in an effort to attract a new Tesla car production plant.

Hardenberg mayor Peter Snijders told the Financieele Dagblad that neighbouring German towns may also join the group which has raised €12m for the campaign.

However there is a lot of competition for the car plant. Groningen is preparing a bid book for the venture, while Tilburg in the south is interested in having Tesla build a battery plant for the plug-in car there.

Tesla already has an assembly plant in Tilburg which is a centre for car components manufacture. And VDL Nedcar in Limburg is also seeking partnership with Tesla, the FD says.

Eastern Europe

There is heavy compeition throughout Europe for a long-awaited Tesla plant. Ferdinand Dudenhöffer of CAR-Center Automotive Research in Duisburg Germany argues that eastern Europe has the most to offer the California-based car maker. ‘Germany has the highest energy prices in the world and southern Europe has very rigid labour laws,’ he said

Dudenhöffer reckons eastern Europe has the best chance of attracting Tesla. The region has low energy costs, low corporation tax and low labour costs, the Financieele Dagblad quoted him as saying.