Production of Tesla electric vehicles could begin next January at the giant new factory outside the city of Monterrey, the Nuevo Leon state governor Samuel Garcia tells AFP in an interview. It is part of the "nearshoring" trend of US companies -- and their suppliers -- choosing production sites closer to markets in the world's largest economy, instead of in Asia. However, civil society activists, like Sandrine Molinard, inject a note of caution into excitement among the elites of Nuevo Leon, citing water access as a problem. The region, home to 5.7 million people, was hit by a severe drought last year, and clouds of pollution regularly shroud the mountains around Monterrey. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES