Back in December reports claimed Tesla was close to revealing a new assembly plant in the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon.
But no announcements have yet been made about the possibility of Tesla building an assembly plant in Mexico. Now, according to Nikkei, it appears no deal has been reached yet, according to a Mexican official.
Emmanuel Loo, the deputy secretary of economic development for Nuevo Leon, told Nikkei “no, we have not”, when asked if a deal has been reached. He also said he is unaware if a decision will be announced this year.
Tesla’s interest in Nuevo Leon “is similar to all the other companies considering investment in the state,” said Loo. “We want to provide as much information as possible to all the companies to make their best decisions.”
“If companies are considering investment in Mexico, I think Nuevo Leon is the best place,” added Loo.
The benefits of Nuevo Leon is the fact it’s close to the U.S. border, close to Texas, which is home to Tesla’s headquarters and its Gigafactory in Austin.
Back in 2022, Nuevo Leon created a special travel lane just only for Tesla suppliers, the only lane dedicated to one company.
“We started working on how we can help [Tesla] and make their logistics faster and more efficient,” explained Loo about the special lane.
Tesla is expected to announce a location for its next Gigafactory and aside from Mexico, other rumors have pointed to Canada as well.