Tesla CEO Elon Musk met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in New York City on Sunday, during which Erdogan discussed the potential Tesla to build a Gigafactory in Türkiye.
According to a summary of the meeting by the Anadolu Agency, Erdogan took advantage of the face-to-face meeting with Musk, asking him to consider building Tesla’s next Gigafactory in his country. Strengthening his argument, Erdogan highlighted the prospects for collaboration between Tesla and SpaceX. Türkiye has been actively investing in its space program, and Erdogan extended an invitation to Musk to participate in Teknofest, a technology and aerospace event held in İzmir. (via Reuters)
While Musk and Erdogan discussed the potential factory location, Türkiye is far from the only country attempting to lure Tesla. It is well known that the company has been exploring expansion opportunities in various countries. Recently, Musk expressed interest in establishing a factory in India to produce affordable electric vehicles, saying Tesla plans to make a significant investment in India “as soon as humanly possible.”
While Tesla may be considering a Gigafactory in Türkiye, the company already has a presence in the country. Earlier this year Tesla launched sales of the Model Y, the first vehicle it has offered for sale in Türkiye. With the launch Tesla also added several Superchargers to help keep owners charged up.
Tesla currently operates four vehicle assembly plants worldwide, with a fifth set to begin construction in Mexico soon. Those four Gigafactories have now produced a collective 5 million electric vehicles, a feat which the company achieved last week. According to Tesla the 5 millionth car was built at Giga Shanghai, a new Model 3.
