After reports emerged last month that Tesla was about to announce a new Gigafactory in Mexico, a government official has revealed that no deal has been reached, and that a decision on a potential investment south of the border might not even be made in 2023.
In mid-December there were reports that Tesla was close to announcing a new Gigafactory south of the border in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The reports suggested Tesla had secured a deal for a piece of land for the factory, and that an official announcement was expected in either December or January. While Tesla has since announced a massive expansion of Giga Nevada, there has been no further developments regarding a potential Giga Mexico.
As it turns out those reports were being overly optimistic. Today a government official confirmed that there is no deal in place between Nuevo Leon and Tesla for a factory in the region. According to statements made to Nikkei Asia by Emmanuel Loo, the deputy secretary of economic development for Nuevo Leon, the two parties are in discussions but that no agreement has been reached. Loo tempered expectations as well, saying that he does not know if a decision will be made this year.
The idea of a Mexican Gigafactory in Nuevo Leon is not without substance. Last year Tesla hosted Governor Samuel García Sepulveda and other Ministers at Giga Texas, which included a factory tour and meetings with Tesla officials. A few months later it was discovered that the pro-business state had established a dedicated Tesla lane at the Columbia Solidarity port of entry, providing Tesla’s half dozen suppliers with swift border crossings to transport goods to Giga Texas, about four hours away.
Then a few months after that Elon Musk was spotted in Nuevo Leon where he reportedly visited with various state officials about a potential Tesla investment in the region.
While Mexico seems to be out of the running, at least for now, we haven’t heard much lately about the possibility of a Tesla expansion into Canada. Last year it was revealed that Tesla was considering both Mexico and Canada for a potential Gigafactory location. It was later discovered that Tesla had been lobbying federal and provincial governments to set up an “advanced manufacturing facility” north of the border, and based on job postings it seems as though Ontario and Quebec are the front runners for a potential facility.
