Elon Musk has been invited by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol to establish an electric vehicle production site in the East Asian nation during a virtual meeting. Tesla‘s CEO responded that South Korea is already considered one of the best locations for the automaker’s next Gigafactory, as per InsideEVs.
“President Yoon explained South Korea’s world-class auto industry ecosystem and investment conditions, and requested that he invest in South Korea,” as per President Yoon’s office.
Will Tesla invest in South Korea?
However, Musk explained that the decision has yet to be made, and any investment will necessitate a study of international investment conditions.
“Musk said he is considering South Korea as one of the top investment candidate sites, and that he plans to decide following a comprehensive review of Asian candidate countries’ investment conditions, including human and technological skills, and their production environment,” Yoon’s office stated.
It is worth noting that Indonesia, India, and possibly many other nations would be delighted to have Tesla. It is because billions of dollars are typically invested in new automotive plants, and thousands of jobs are also generated.
With a potential yearly production of more than 1 million units, Tesla Giga Shanghai is now the largest electric vehicle manufacturing facility in the world.
However, whether such capacity is sufficient for Asia or whether another facility would be required to sustain expansion is an outstanding subject.
Tesla’s presence in the South Korean market
On the other hand, Yoon’s office reportedly announced that Tesla would increase supply chain collaboration with South Korea. In fact, the leading automaker and LG Energy Solution have already announced partnership plans.
The South Korean company provides Tesla with 2170-type cylindrical li-ion cells. Additionally, it is working on the cylindrical format of the 4680 type, which will first be manufactured in South Korea.
