Tesla is finalizing plans for the construction an electric vehicle assembly plant in an industrial area of Nuevo León and could make the official announcement next week.
The plant will be located in Santa Caterinain the state capital city of Monterrey, according to people familiar with the automaker’s plans, who asked not to be identified because it is in charge of internal affairs.
The final details are still being finalized and conversations with the company have involved both the government of Samuel García and to the Ministry of Foreign Affairsone of the people said.
Tesla did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Musk is “flirting” with Nuevo León
Chief Executive Elon Musk visited Nuevo León in October and met with officials there, and the company’s relationship with the state government has already earned it an exclusive customs route for parts that cross the Texas border.
The factory will be The first Tesla south of the border and part of a push to expand global manufacturing that has included massive new plants in Austin, Texas and Berlin, as well as a sprawling factory in Shanghai.
Tesla has long considered building a third factory in North America, and Musk told shareholders in August that a decision could be made later this year.
The announcement comes days after Mexico and Canada won a trade dispute with the United States over the production of cars shipped across regional borders, a development that gives manufacturers greater incentives to produce in those nations.
An EV made in Mexico is likely to be eligible for subsidies under recent US legislation enacted in August designed to spur EV adoption, as long as it meets the battery content requirements.
Musk’s “ambitious” goal
It is not clear what models will Tesla produce in your Mexican factory or when production starts. Those details could be announced in the coming days, the people said.
The Tesla plant will be located in an automotive corridor in Nuevo León that already houses factories of General Motors and Kia Motors and a unit of South Korea’s Hyundai Kia. Ford Motor also builds its electric Mustang Mach-E in Cuautitlán, near Mexico City.
Musk has set himself the ambitious goal of selling 20 million electric vehicles a year by 2030, which would make Tesla twice as large as any other automaker and account for 20% of global auto production.
