Tesla to open plant in northern Mexico: President

By Jorge Antonio Rocha

MEXICO CITY (AA) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador confirmed Tuesday that Tesla will set up shop in northern Mexico despite his initial reluctance because of a drought in the region.

Lopez Obrador anticipated Monday that he would have a telephone call with the electric car company’s CEO Elon Musk to decide the future of the possible investment.

But after several rumors began circulating in the media regarding the success of the call, Lopez Obrador confirmed the news during a news conference.

"They are going to dedicate the investment to Mexico, and they are going to establish the plant in Monterrey with a series of commitments to address the problem of water scarcity, they are going to help," he said.

Lopez Obrador said last week that the plant would not be opened in Monterrey due to an intense drought and water shortages reported in the northern city.

Instead, the Mexican president pushed for the plant’s construction in central Mexico in Hidalgo, which is close to his pet project -- the newly inaugurated International Airport.

Last year, Monterrey reported water shortages which some critics believe are fueled by the intense industry located in the region, which has hoarded a significant amount of the city's water supply for manufacturing soft drink and beer products.

But following the call, Lopez Obrador appears to have changed his mind, confirming that Tesla will begin construction in Monterrey.

Details about the call and information on the investment will be announced Wednesday but Lopez Obrador confirmed that Mexico would not grant subsidies to Tesla unlike the billions of dollars his companies have received from US government subsidies.

Lopez Obrador thanked Musk, who also founded Space X, for investing in Mexico and confided how he and Musk agreed on the usefulness of the Mexican working class.

​​​​​​​"We agree that the primary resource of Mexico is the quality of its workers, the ethics, the responsibility, the creativity of the Mexican workers, and (Elon Musk) fully agreed that is not found in other places in the world, the quality of the labor force, the professionalism, the responsibility of the Mexican workers," he said.