MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc will soon confirm it has chosen Mexico as a location for a new plant, and CEO Elon Musk is planning to speak with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Mexico’s top diplomat said on Friday.
“Very soon we will have confirmation that this company, which is so important, which is very close to the electromobility priorities we are promoting, has chosen Mexico to increase its presence,” Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said, referring to Tesla.
He declined to give a time for the phone call or the location for Tesla’s Mexico investment.
“It will be talked about in the call,” said Ebrard, who spoke at an event with Mexican business leaders.
It was previously known that Mexico was among the countries where Tesla was thinking of building a new factory but Ebrard’s comments are the clearest sign yet that the carmaker has decided on Mexico.
Several potential sites have been pitched for Tesla’s move to Mexico, with Lopez Obrador saying earlier this month that the states of Nuevo Leon and Hidalgo were leading the race.
(Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez in Mexico CityAdditional reporting by Daina Beth Solomon in Mexico CityWriting by Kylie Madry and Stephen EisenhammerEditing by Brendan O’Boyle and Matthew Lewis)
