Self-proclaimed ‘free speech absolutist’ Elon Musk is in talks to open a Tesla factory in Saudi Arabia – which is still killing citizens for negative tweets about the Kingdom.
A deal with the Saudis could help Musk achieve his ambitious goal of selling 20 million vehicles a year by 2030 – up from just 1.3 million sold in 2022.
The move is part of an ambitious push by the kingdom to diversify its economy away from oil and secure metals needed to make electric cars.
But it comes amid a series of high-profile human rights abuses by the authoritative regime in Saudi Arabia, which has been cracking down increasingly hard on peaceful dissent.
Last month, a court sentenced a retired Saudi teacher to death over a series of tweets that were critical of the regime.
Self-proclaimed ‘free speech absolutist’ Elon Musk is in talks to open a Tesla factory in Saudi Arabia
The report from the Wall Street Journal comes just hours after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan asked Musk to build a vehicle factory in Turkey, according to the country’s communications directorate.
Musk is also set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in California on Monday.
Saudi Arabia is said to have been wooing Tesla with the right to purchase specific quantities of metals and minerals the company needs for its electric vehicles from countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, the report said.
The kingdom has been trying to shift its economy away from oil and has been signing billion-dollar deals with several countries to collaborate on the development, manufacture and sale of electric vehicles.
A deal with the Saudis could help Musk achieve his ambitious goal of selling 20 million vehicles a year by 2030 – up from just 1.3 million sold in 2022
In June, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment signed a $5.6 billion deal with Chinese electric car maker Human Horizon.
The US-based Lucid Group announced in August that its first overseas plant in Saudi Arabia is set to start limited production of Lucid Air EVs this month.
However, Musk’s Tesla brand currently leads the Middle East EV market.
One of the proposals the kingdom is considering involves extending financing to commodities trader Trafigura for a flailing Congo cobalt and copper project, which could help provide a Tesla factory with supplies, the WSJ report said.
A Trafigura spokesperson said the trader was reviewing its options for the Mutoshi project in Congo amid rising costs and persistently low cobalt prices.
Tesla did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment, while Saudi Arabia’s sovereign fund, the Public Investment Fund, declined to comment.
Musk said in May that Tesla would probably pick a location for a new factory by the end of 2023.
The company has six factories and is building a seventh in Mexico in northern Nuevo Leon state.
Musk’s talks with Saudi Arabia come just weeks after the nation sentenced Mohammad bin Nasser al-Ghamdi, 54, to death.
The teacher was accused of ‘using his accounts on Twitter and YouTube to follow and promote individuals who seek to destabilize public order.’
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