The Tesla gigafactoría project in Valencia has entered indefinite hibernation. From the memorandum signed with the Generalitat In June 2023there have been no tangible advances: neither public contracts, nor works of works, nor investment of investment.
Tesla I had found ideal land in Chesteand the Consell – at that moment, of Ximo Puig – had promised express processing as a strategic territorial project, the same formula that has worked with Volkswagen in Sagunto. But there has been everything.
Why is it important. Tesla’s paralysis leaves the Valencian Community with an industrial promise less and the urgency of not mortgaging public resources in ghost projects. Ford Almussafes is going through its worst crisis With you are and fall in production. The region needs real investments, not memoranda of understanding that do not reach anything.
The case also shows the risk of the “announcement effects”:
- Land price inflation.
- Frustrated job expectations.
- Administrative resources dedicated to processing castles in the air.
Valencia must learn from Sagunto: industrial projects are measured in signed contracts and verifiable calendars, not in preliminary meetings.
The context. Tesla has gone from leading the continental electric market to An unprecedented sales crisis. In Germany, the first European market, it has barely sold 1,110 units in July – a 55%drop – while the electricity sector grew by 58%.
The company has descended from the first to the fourteenth place among the best -selling brands in German territory. None of its models are among the most popular twenties in the country where it has its only European gigafactoría, which is also the most populous in the continent and one of the largest in purchasing power.
In figures. Tesla numbers in Europe draw a generalized collapse:
- United Kingdom: -60% (987 units compared to 2,462 of the previous year).
- Sweden: -86%.
- Belgium: -58%.
- France: -27% monthly, -40% accumulated annual.
- European market share: 1.8% to 1%.
The contrast. While Tesla sinksVolkswagen has doubled its electrical sales in 2025 and dominates the continental market. He ID.3 leads German sales with 2,907 units, followed by ID.7 with 2,675. Half of the electric sold in Germany already carry the VW logo.
The gigafactoría of the German group in Sagunto advances as planned: work, signed energy agreements, production scheduled for 2026 and thousands of guaranteed jobs. A real project against an evaporated promise.
Between bambalins. The Berlin factory has reduced the production shifts of the Model and three to two newspapers. Los Tesla not sold They accumulate in an old East German airport60 kilometers from the plant, waiting for buyers that do not arrive.
The cheap model of 25,000 euros that Tesla planned to manufacture in Valencia is also frozen. The company now bets on a decaffeinated version of the Model and: same car but with fewer qualities, without glazed roof or rear screens.
In summary. Tesla has gone from revolutionizing the electricity market to become a more brand among many, and not the best positioned. His ghost gigafactoría in Valencia is the perfect symbol of this fall: a project that was born as a promise of the future and has been reduced to a archived memorandum.
While Volkswagen does build in Sagunto, Tesla stacks without selling cars in abandoned airports. The lesson for Valencia is clear: in industrial policy, the only jobs they count are those that have payroll, not those that appear in PowerPoints.
Outstanding image | Alain Rouiller, Milan Csizmadia
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