CATL has invested 1.8 billion euros in the new factory in Thuringia. There were hardly any state subsidies for this.
Image: Nora Klein
The Chinese group CATL is the world market leader for electric car batteries and is now having batteries manufactured near Erfurt. A visit to Germany’s first “Gigafactory”.
On a July day five years ago, Angela Merkel appeared before the press in Berlin. Merkel, who was Chancellor at the time, reported on a groundbreaking investment decision. The Chinese high-tech group CATL will build a new factory for the production of battery cells for electric cars in Thuringia for 240 million euros, the Chancellor announced after a meeting with China’s then Prime Minister Li Keqiang as part of the German-Chinese government consultations.
Marcus Theurer
Editor in the economy of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper.
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The Chancellor spoke of “an important day for Thuringia”. They “worked intensively” with the partners from China to bring the new factory to Germany. What was meant by this was: This investor and his plans in Thuringia are a top priority in the Chancellery, even if most Germans had never heard of this company called Contemporary Amperex Technology.