According to media reports, following Donald Trump's re-election as President of the United States, Mexico hopes to meet with Tesla CEO Elon Musk to inquire whether Tesla still plans to build the "Mexico Gigafactory."
Tesla initially announced plans for a Mexico Gigafactory in March 2023, stating its intention to proceed as quickly as it did with its Shanghai factory, aiming to complete the plant within about a year. However, this plan has not materialized.
Toward the end of 2023, Tesla confirmed that, due to global economic uncertainty, the project had been temporarily slowed.
Musk has indicated that the project is still active, and Tesla is working on "long-term procurement" for it, but the timeline will depend on the company's assessment of the economic recovery. Meanwhile, the electric vehicle manufacturer appears more inclined to focus investments in Texas.
Earlier, foreign media speculated that Tesla's delay in the Mexico factory project was more related to the U.S. election, especially given that candidate Trump has discussed imposing high tariffs on Mexico. Musk has since offered support for Trump's campaign.
Indeed, despite local government investment in infrastructure for the Nuevo León factory project, Tesla officially suspended the project this summer.
Now, Mexico's Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard hopes to gain clarity on the project's status in light of Trump's win. In an interview, Ebrard stated, "I will arrange a meeting with Musk as soon as possible, ask him to share his true intentions, and then see what we can do to continue moving the project forward." Ebrard's remarks suggest he still believes the project can proceed.
However, Tesla has altered its production plans. Initially, the Mexico factory was slated to produce a new affordable model based on Tesla's "unboxed" manufacturing technique.
Tesla now intends to produce autonomous taxis based on this platform at its Texas factory, and has scrapped plans to use the platform for other affordable models.
