Mexican president says Tesla to build plant in Mexico
CTV
Mexico's president announced Tuesday that electric car company Tesla has committed to building a major plant in the industrial hub of Monterrey in northern Mexico.
Mexico's president announced Tuesday that electric car company Tesla has committed to building a major plant in the industrial hub of Monterrey in northern Mexico.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the promise came in phone calls he had Friday and Monday with Tesla head Elon Musk. It would be Tesla's third plant outside the U.S., after one in Shanghai and one near Berlin.
Lopez Obrador had previously ruled out such a plant in the arid northern state of Nuevo Leon where Monterrey is the capital, because he didn't want water-hungry factories in a region that suffers water shortages. But he said Musk's company had offered commitments to address those concerns, including using recycled water.
"There is one commitment that all the water used in the manufacture of electric automobiles will be recycled water," Lopez Obrador said.
The president said it would be a large investment without giving a dollar amount, and did not specify what the plant would produce. He said it was unclear if it would produce batteries, an industry Mexico desperately wants despite not having any current domestic supply of lithium.
Lopez Obrador said the company planned to release more details on Wednesday.
"This is going to mean a considerable investment and many, many jobs," Lopez Obrador said. "My understanding is that it will be very big."
