Tesla to build a new factory in Saudi Arabia? Musk denounces the report as completely fake news!

Tesla CEO Musk has fired at the media again, this time due to a leak that Tesla may receive support from Saudi Arabia to build a factory in the country.

On Monday, September 18, Eastern Time, media cited insider sources saying that Saudi Arabia and Tesla are in talks to build an electric car production plant in the kingdom. The negotiations are still in the early stages, and Saudi Arabia's actions will help promote economic diversification domestically.

According to the media report, Saudi Arabia has previously attracted Tesla's cooperation by offering the procurement rights for the metal and mineral resources needed for electric vehicle production. One proposal currently under consideration by Saudi Arabia involves providing financing to commodity trading giant Trafigura to support a cobalt and copper project in the Congo, which could ultimately supply Tesla's factory.

The report pointed out that considering the controversial relationship between Musk and Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia is a major investor in Tesla's competitor Lucid, and any prospects for a deal between Tesla and Saudi Arabia are likely to be complex. It also suggested that if an agreement is reached, Saudi Arabia may help Tesla achieve its sales target of 20 million vehicles by 2030.

Subsequently, a spokesperson for Trafigura stated that the company is evaluating its options for the Mutoshi project in the Congo in the face of rising costs and persistently low cobalt prices. Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment from other media outlets, and Saudi Arabia's largest sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), declined to comment.

Musk took to the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to dismiss the reports of preliminary discussions between Tesla and Saudi Arabia about building a factory as "another completely false article." He accompanied the post with a screenshot of the article's headline, summary, and publication time.

A user on X commented that the media that leaked the information could have resolved the matter by sending an email to Tesla to verify its authenticity.

There were even X users who compared the media that leaked the information to a trash can.

Prior to the reports of possible cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Tesla, Turkey's state-owned news agency Anadolu confirmed in a report released on Monday that during recent talks in New York, Turkish President Erdogan extended an olive branch to Musk, hoping that Tesla would build a factory in Turkey. He also expressed Turkey's openness to cooperation on artificial intelligence (AI) and SpaceX's Starlink satellite constellation, and invited Musk to attend the aerospace technology festival to be held in Turkey at the end of this month. According to the above report, Musk stated at the time that many Turkish suppliers were already collaborating with Tesla. Turkey is one of the most important candidate locations for Tesla's next factory. Musk is willing to participate in the technology festival in Turkey at the end of the month.

Tesla currently has six car production factories worldwide, and the seventh factory is under construction in Mexico. In May, Tesla stated that it may select a new factory location globally by the end of this year.

At the beginning of last month, media reported that Tesla executives expressed interest in building a factory in India during a meeting with the Indian Minister of Commerce. The new factory can produce low-cost cars priced at $24,000, which is about 25% cheaper than the current affordable version. It can supply the local market in India and also for export.