Tesla Nears Deal to Build Plant in Indonesia

• CEO Elon Musk tells followers on Twitter to be “cautious” with articles using anonymous sources after the report.

Tesla is nearing a preliminary deal to build production facilities in Indonesia with a capacity of one million units, Bloomberg News reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.

On Wednesday, CEO Elon Musk commented in a tweet referencing the report, saying, “Please be careful when writing articles that cite ‘anonymous sources,’ as they are often false.”

Bloomberg said in its report Wednesday that Indonesia’s investment minister confirmed talks with the world’s most valuable automaker.

The electric vehicle maker and Indonesia’s investment ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters news agency requests for comment.

Musk said last month that Tesla was close to choosing 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 early as December.

In November, Musk said South Korea was among his top candidate locations for a factory he plans to build in Asia to make electric vehicles, according to South Korea’s presidential office.

Tesla makes its electric cars in Shanghai in China, Berlin in Germany, and Austin and Fremont in the United States.

The latest report said Indonesia’s talks include plans for production facilities and to facilitate the company’s supply chain.

Tesla has signed contracts worth about $5 billion to buy battery materials 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, domestically, in comments made to Bloomberg News in August.

Source: REUTERS