Mexico to Build Its Own Cheap Electric Car — Forget Tesla

“Mexico on Monday announced plans for a locally-designed affordable small electric car, months after Tesla CEO Elon Musk halted plans for a factory there over the threat of tariff hikes from US President-elect Donald Trump,” AFP writes. “The Mexican government said the cars would be manufactured through a public-private partnership and would cost between 90,000 and 150,000 pesos (between $4,400 and $7,400).”

The private sector partner is Olinia, and the head of the company, Roberto Capuano, added that, “It will be the first Mexican manufacturer of mini vehicles, developed by Mexican engineering.” This was at a daily press conference now held by Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Naturally, the target of producing extremely cheap electric cars tells us where the country thinks the EV industry needs a boost. Capuano contends that electric vehicles from foreign automakers are “expensive and out of reach of Mexican families.” Presumably, that’s especially pointed at Tesla, given the company’s great popularity as well as the open discussions and plans for Tesla to build a factory in the country. It could also be aimed at the other giant EV producer in the world, BYD, which has been planning to set up a factory in Mexico — but never gets to it.

The first model from this partnership will hopefully be in production before the 2026 World Cup, which kicks off on June 11 of 2026 in Mexico City.

While Tesla’s plans to build a factory in Mexico had been delayed for years, it appears it was never killed off as an idea until Trump committed that he’d put “heavy” tariffs on goods imported to the USA from Mexico.