Tesla Picks Austin Over Tulsa For New Factory Location

Electric car maker Tesla Inc. has picked the Austin, Texas, area as the site for its largest auto assembly plant employing at least 5,000 workers.

The new factory will build Tesla’s upcoming Cybertruck pickup and will be a second U.S. manufacturing site for the Model Y small SUV, largely for distribution to the East Coast.

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Tulsa Mayor GT Bynum issued a statement regarding the Tesla selection, saying,

"When you compete at the highest levels, you can’t always win. We congratulate the city of Austin on landing this incredible facility. Tesla is just a remarkable organization - remarkable products, remarkable mission, remarkable leader, and a remarkable team. Tulsa was honored to be considered for this opportunity, and we are eager to find other ways down the road that we can help the team at Tesla succeed.

“I can’t properly convey my gratitude for all the Tulsans who rallied around this opportunity because they wanted the best for our city. We are a city that loves great innovators and the companies they build, and we made that clear to the whole world. Our workforce, our quality of life, and our ease of doing business have caught the attention of major companies around the world - and with that will come more opportunities. We will continue to work together in building a world class city.”

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Governor Stitt also issued a response, saying "over the past few months, Tulsans and Oklahomans as a whole showed the nation and the world that our state is worthy of being one of two finalists for an innovative, cutting-edge company like Tesla. I wish Elon Musk and Tesla all the best. In fact, I wish them so much success they are forced to expand again, because I know just the place.”

In response to the news, the Tulsa Regional Chamber President and CEO Mike Neal said, "While it’s certainly disappointing Tulsa was not selected as the new home for Tesla, we congratulate our fellow-finalist Austin. We thank Elon Musk and all of the Tesla leadership for their consideration of Tulsa, and we are optimistic we might still have the chance to partner with them in the future. A big part of what made us so competitive in this process was the extraordinary collaboration among our state, local, regional and tribal partners."