Tesla Motors Inc is well known for its electric vehicle development and manufacturing, but unbeknownst to many, it is also developing and supplying other automakers with technology as part of the company's goals and revenue stream.

The company had helped develop and manufactured electric powertrains for other automakers. These included the Mercedes smart EV and B-Class as well as the second generation Toyota Rav4 EV.

Tesla announced the acquisition of the German engineering firm, Grohmann Engineering. The latter were an important supplier of automation systems for the automotive industry. Now, under new management, they will be called the Tesla Grohmann Automation.

In a press conference following the announcement of the acquisition, CEO Klause Grohmann described the company's client base. These included large automotive manufacturers, semiconductor producers as well as companies in the field of bio-automation and life science.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed that his company will honor the existing contracts. In addition, he said that they should continue working together to expedite the transition to electric transport. He went on describing the acquisition as basis for the new Tesla Advanced Automation group. A group devoted to scaling-up the production of electric vehicles through automation, Electrek reported.

The stock price of Tesla went up slightly on Nov. 8 as the market reacted to the deal, among other things. With the company preparing to ramp up manufacturing capacity it proved to be a timely purchase.

Tesla did not disclose the purchase price for Grohmann which raised alarms with sceptics. However experts don't see immediate risk to TSLA stock. Grohmann employs fewer than 1,000 people. Furthermore, in 2014, the company generated a relatively small 95 million Euros, rougly $105 million, in revenues, InvestorPlace reported.

The deal could end up boosting the Tesla stock price. The way Tesla operates, they might be able to accept the stock's per-unit costs by selling luxury vehicles.

Topics Tesla, Tesla Motors, Elon Musk, Engineering, Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model S