5 Companies Owned by Tesla

Tesla: An Overview

Tesla Inc. (TSLA) designs, manufactures, leases, and sells high-performance, fully electric vehicles. It also offers energy generation and storage systems, and services related to its products.

The company was founded in 2003 by Silicon Valley engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Their goal was to design electric cars that would be less reliant on fossil fuels but as quick and as fun to drive as vehicles that run on gasoline.

Elon Musk was an investor in Tesla and became its CEO in 2008.

Also in 2008, the company launched its Roadster. That car was followed by the Model S, Model X, and Model 3. Tesla then expanded its electric vehicle offerings with an SUV, called the Model Y, and two different types of trucks – the Tesla Semi and the Cybertruck.

In December 2020, after reporting consistent profits, the company was added to the S&P 500 Index.

Tesla has since become the largest automaker in the world as measured by its market capitalization of $892 billion in March 2025. For the year ending Dec. 31, 2024, Tesla posted an annual net income of $7.15 billion on revenue of $97.7 billion.

Tesla’s rapid growth into the most valuable automaker has been supported by a number of key acquisitions. Those acquisitions have primarily been aimed at increasing manufacturing capacity, boosting operational speed and efficiency, and reducing costs.

Below, we look at five of Tesla’s acquisitions. The company does not provide a breakdown of how much profit or revenue each acquisition contributes.

1. Hibar Systems, Ltd.

• Type of Business: High Speed Battery Manufacturing Systems
• Acquisition Price: Undisclosed
• Acquisition Date: 2019

Canada-based Hibar Systems was founded in 1974. The company specialized in designing and building high-precision dispensing pumps and filling systems, including automated vacuum filling systems for lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles.

It’s unclear exactly when the acquisition took place because Tesla made no announcement of it. But in October 2019, Tesla listed Hibar as one of its subsidiaries in an October 2 filing with the Canadian government. It is now known as Tesla Toronto Automation.

Tesla’s strategy in acquiring Hibar was to boost its ability to produce high quality battery cells in house. The move was also made to help lower key operating expenses and make it less reliant on Panasonic Corp. (6752), with which Tesla jointly owns and operates a Nevada-based battery factory.

2. DeepScale

• Type of Business: Developer of Perceptual Systems for Autonomous Driving
• Acquisition Price: Undisclosed
• Acquisition Date: October 2019

DeepScale was a four-year old startup technology company located in Mountain View, California when it was acquired by Tesla. Before the purchase, DeepScale was operating on $18 million in venture capital.

It specialized in designing technology for automakers that used low-wattage, multi-use processors to provide highly accurate computer perception.

Tesla’s purchase of the company was seen as part of its strategy to develop assisted and autonomous driving systems for its cars. The automaker gained high-value personnel with exceptional expertise in this efficient AI niche.

3. Grohmann Engineering GmbH

• Type of Business: Automated Manufacturing Systems
• Acquisition Price: $135.3 million
• Acquisition Date: January 3, 2017

German-based Grohmann Engineering was founded in 1963 by Klaus Grohmann. The company specialized in the design and development of automated manufacturing systems.

When Tesla announced in November 2016 that it was acquiring Grohmann, the firm had 700 employees and revenue had been growing at an average annual rate of 6% over the previous 20 years.

Tesla said that the acquisition would help it improve the speed and efficiency of its manufacturing processes, significantly reducing expenses. It is now called Tesla Automation.

The total cost of acquisition was an initial cash-payment of $109.5 million plus an additional $25.8 million paid in the first quarter of the year as part of an incentive compensation arrangement.

Months after the acquisition, Mr. Grohmann was ousted over a disagreement with Musk concerning the treatment of Grohmann’s existing customers, several of which were German auto rivals to Tesla.

4. Perbix Machine Co. Inc.

• Type of Business: Automated Manufacturing Machinery
• Acquisition Price: Estimated at $10.5 million.
• Acquisition Date: November 7, 2017

Perbix, founded in 1976, specialized in designing and building custom, highly-automated high-volume manufacturing machinery. It was purchased by Tesla in 2017.

Perbix was acquired by Tesla to enhance its ability to make more of its vehicle parts in-house, giving it greater control of auto production.

Following on the Grohmann purchase, this acquisition was another step by Tesla to optimize and accelerate the production process of its electric vehicles.

5. SolarCity Corp.

• Type of Business: Solar Energy
• Acquisition Price: $2.1 billion
• Acquisition Date: November 21, 2016

SolarCity, now known as Tesla Energy, was founded in 2006 by two brothers who are cousins of Elon Musk. The idea for the company was Musk’s, who also provided the initial working capital and served as chair.

SolarCity designs, manufactures, and installs solar energy systems, and sells solar-generated electricity.

Tesla announced that the acquisition would create the world’s first vertically integrated sustainable energy company. Tesla would take advantage of the synergies created by linking its energy storage with SolarCity’s solar generation.

Despite the merger being approved by a majority of Tesla shareholders, some Tesla investors later filed a lawsuit against the company. They claimed that the real motivation for the deal was to bail out SolarCity, which was beset by financial difficulties. The courts ruled in favor of Musk.

The Bottom Line

Tesla is the world’s largest automaker by market cap. Its goal is the world’s transition to sustainable energy and it has achieved remarkable success in the development and sale of electric cars.

The companies it has acquired along the way have provided it with a greater ability to increase manufacturing efficiency, lower its manufacturing costs, and incorporate groundbreaking technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to improve the driving experience.