LatinNews Daily - 24 July 2024

*US billionaire Elon Musk, the owner of electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Tesla, has said that plans to build a Tesla ‘gigafactory’ in Mexico are on hold until after the US presidential elections in November. Asked about progress on the factory in an earnings call, Musk said the project was “on hold” as “we need to see just where things stand after the election”. Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that Musk had confirmed a major investment in a new assembly plant near Monterrey, the capital of the northern state of Nuevo León, in February 2023. However, progress has been slow and doubts have emerged surrounding the project despite claims by local officials to the contrary. In the call, Musk noted that US Republican presidential candidate, former president Donald Trump (2017-2021), “has said that he will put heavy tariffs on vehicles produced in Mexico so it doesn’t make sense to invest a lot in Mexico if that is going to be the case”. Nuevo León state governor, Samuel García, who has much hailed the plans for a Tesla factory in the state, was reportedly on holiday with his family when the news emerged about Musk’s comments.