"Electric Car Agreement for Toyota and Tesla"

"Tesla Motors and Toyota Motor announced on Thursday that Tesla had bought the recently closed Nummi assembly plant in Fremont, Calif., where it intends to make its Model S luxury electric sedan and other future models.

Also, Toyota said it had agreed to buy $50 million of Tesla common stock upon the completion of its planned initial public offering.

The companies also said they intended to cooperate on the development of 'electric vehicles, parts and production system and engineering support.'

Production of the Model S will begin in 2012 at Nummi, the plant that had been a joint venture of Toyota and General Motors. Tesla said production of the Model S would occupy only a small part of the factory."

Jim Motavalli reports for the New York Times May 20, 2010.

Source: NYTimes, 05/21/2010