Tesla nears deal to build production facilities in Indonesia: Report
China-made Tesla Model 3 vehicles are seen during a delivery event at its factory in Shanghai on Jan 7, 2020. (File photo: Reuters/Aly Song)
Tesla is nearing a preliminary deal to build production facilities in Indonesia with a capacity of 1 million units, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday (Jan 11), citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.
In a comment on a tweet referencing the report on Wednesday, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said: "Please be cautious about writing articles citing 'unnamed sources', as they are frequently false."
Indonesia's investment minister confirmed talks with the world's most valuable automaker, Bloomberg said in its report.
The electric-vehicle maker and Indonesia's Ministry of Investment did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
Musk last month said that Tesla was close to picking the location of its new "Gigafactory" following media reports that the automaker could announce a new factory in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon as soon as December.
In November, Musk said that South Korea was among its top candidate locations for a factory it plans to build in Asia for making EVs, according to South Korea's presidential office.
Tesla makes its electric cars in China's Shanghai, Germany's Berlin and Austin and Fremont in the United States.
The latest report said that the Indonesia talks include plans for production facilities and to facilitate the company's supply chain.
Tesla has signed contracts worth about US$5 billion to buy materials for batteries from nickel processing companies in Indonesia, a senior Cabinet minister told CNBC Indonesia last year.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo urged the electric vehicle maker to manufacture its cars, as well as batteries, in the country, in comments made to Bloomberg in August.
