For nearly two months there have been rumours that Tesla getting ready to announce a new facility in Mexico. According to Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard, an announcement on the new plant is just around the corner.
The rumour of a Mexican Gigafactory started last year when Tesla hosted Governor of Nuevo Leon Samuel García Sepulveda and other Ministers at Giga Texas. That visit was reciprocated a few months later when Elon Musk was spotted in Nuevo Leon where he reportedly visited with various state officials about a potential Tesla investment in the region, which shares its border to the north with Texas.
An announcement on that potential plant was rumoured to be happening in December or January, but there has yet to be any official word from Tesla on an expansion into Mexico. In fact, since then there has been a new report that Tesla was also close to securing a deal for land near the airport in Mexico City, which would allow the automaker to export parts by air to their other Gigafactories.
Without providing details on which of the two projects could be announced, Minister Ebrard said today that an announcement could come very soon, and that it will come from Tesla, not the Mexican government. Ebrard also confirmed that Tesla has been shown several locations around the country for a potential plant.
“What I would think is that we’re very close to have this announcement by Tesla, but I don’t have an exact date yet. They will make their announcement. We can’t announce it,” Ebrard said (via Bloomberg)
It is worth noting that these comments are in contrast to those made by another government official last month. Emmanuel Loo, the deputy secretary of economic development for Nuevo Leon, revealed in January that the two parties were not close to a deal, and that he wasn’t even sure a deal could be finalized in 2023.
Given the two contrasting statements, it would not be surprising that if an announcement is made soon by Tesla, it would be for the facility in Mexico City.
