Photo: Reforma
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is considering investing in Mexico, facts hint. He recently visited the country and met with government officials from the state of Nuevo León, who has since hinted at a possible collaboration.
Elon Musk visited Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico last weekend. There, he met with Governor Samuel García and other state officials, as well as US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar. According to speculation, the American engineer is considering Santa Catarina as a site for the construction of a factory, presumably operated by Tesla. At the meeting with state officials, Musk was reportedly accompanied by Tesla executives, according to the Mexico News Daily.
Santa Catarina is located west of Monterrey, a seven-hour drive from Austin, Texas, where Tesla is headquartered. The company already has many parts suppliers in Mexico, so the investment in the country should not come as a surprise. García had already met with Tesla earlier this year for a deal, after which the manufacturer's Mexican suppliers had their own lane on the Mexico-US border.
Nuevo León state officials said little about the meeting with Musk, mentioning that they had entered into a confidentiality agreement. This may hint that the conversation really touched on an important issue, the disclosure of which could harm the company's plans. The governor and his wife, Mariana Rodriguez, posted several screenshots of media reports of the meeting on their Instagram stories. One of García's posts was with an emoji showing two hands clasped together. Usually, this emoji is used as a “high five,” an expression of pleading for something, or an expression of gratitude. The Governor himself said on Monday that Musk was attracted to Nuevo León by the business-friendly environment the state offers.
“I'm very optimistic and very happy about what's coming for our state – that's why the richest people in the world come here, it's not by chance,” García said at the launch of a new online portal for business-related bureaucratic procedures called Agiliza Nuevo León.
“In Nuevo León, as always, we must be an example of how to do things,” said the governor, who highlighted that his state is a job creation powerhouse and a magnet for foreign investment.
Economy Minister Iván Rivas, one of the other officials who met with Musk in Monterrey, said the authorities were “analyzing” what they could do with Musk. This sounds very vague, but hints that some kind of cooperation is being discussed. Rivas said that any investment from the richest man in the world would be a good idea, after which he said he could not say anything more because of the confidentiality agreement.
Musk has previously said that the US, Mexico, and Canada are being considered as possible locations for Tesla's next factory. Since then, the manufacturer has announced the construction of a lithium refinery in Texas. In addition, Tesla has opened recruitment in Quebec, Canada, which could also hint at a new facility there.
© 2022, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.
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About the Author
Eva Fox
Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.
