Business | Tesla and Mexico

Will Elon Musk scrap his plan to invest in a gigafactory in Mexico?

Donald Trump’s return to the White House may have changed Tesla’s plans

A billboard welcoming the American electric car maker Tesla, in Monterrey, Mexico
Photograph: Getty Images
|MEXICO CITY

Elon Musk likes to think big, from giant rockets to blockbuster pay packets and massive, if misguided, investments in social media. In Mexico’s case it was an investment, announced in March 2023, in “the biggest ev plant in the world”. Tesla’s boss said that he would spend $5bn to build a “gigafactory” in Nuevo León, a state bordering the United States, that on completion in 2026 would churn out more electric vehicles (evs) than any of his existing facilities in America, China and Germany. Almost two years later, however, Tesla has yet to break ground. Why has the mercurial Mr Musk’s interest cooled?

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This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Mexican stand-down”

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