Mexico’s electric-car ambitions

Job advertsevgm hint at its imminent arrival but Tesla is yet to confirm recent reports that it will set up a new electric vehicle () “gigafactory” in Monterrey, a Mexican city close to the American frontier. The rumours have nonetheless set wheels in motion. Noah Itech, a Chinese supplier of automation equipment to the American car company, is building a $100m plant in the city. If Elon Musk’s firm sets up in Mexico it will be the latest in a long list of companies that have chosen to build vehicles in a country that borders the world’s second-largest car market.General Motors () and Ford, along with Japan’s Toyota and Nissan, have long made cars for export in the country, and more so since Mexico signed a free-trade deal with America and Canada in 1993. By 2021 that had made Mexico the world’s seventh-largest carmaker. But as the industry shifts from combustion engines to battery power, will Mexico maintain its allure?