Tesla Motors, the maker of electric cars and America's newest car manufacturer, has been named California's largest auto industry employer. The company currently employs over 6,000 people in the state, giving it the edge in size over even Toyota.
"Tesla's scaling up here in California is terrific news," said Gino DiCaro, spokesman for the California Manufacturers & Technology Association told Bloomberg. "It's also an exception -- and we certainly need more of them."
Tesla has its HQ in Palo Alto and its assembly plant in Fremont. In the past three months, the firm has leased over 625,000 square feet of Californian real estate.
It makes "perfect sense" for Tesla to invest in the state, said California's lieutenant governor, Gavin Newsom, "and for this state to invest in their success."
In the first quarter of 2014 the company reported revenue of $713 million on deliveries of 6,457 Model S electric cars. Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the company plans on delivering 35,000 cars by the year's end.
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