Elon Musk UK visit drives Tesla factory rumours

A brief visit by Tesla boss Elon Musk to Luton has SLOT ignited rumours that he is considering a Tesla factory in the UK.

The electric car mogul flew into Luton Airport on a private jet last weekend and stayed two days, reports say.

The Daily Telegraph reports that the visit coincides with a hunt by UK officials for "a major new car plant" location.

The secrecy around the bids has led to speculation that Mr Musk may be involved.

The Telegraph reported (behind a paywall) that regional authorities - including those in Teesside and the West Midlands - were given an unusually short 48 hours to prepare bids for a 250-hectare site, without being told what company the bid was for.

The process was run by the Office for Investment, a new government office which is designed to help smooth out discussions between the public sector and private foreign investors post-Brexit.

Flight-tracking software showed that a private Gulfstream jet widely reported to belong to Mr Musk, landed at Luton Airport from California.

The plane then moved on to Germany, where Mr Musk paid a visit on Monday to the site of Tesla's large "gigafactory", which has been plagued by delays.

However, neither the government nor Tesla have confirmed the speculation about Mr Musk's brief stop in the UK.

It's also not the first time Mr Musk has landed in Luton for a brief visit, fuelling such rumours - he was reported to have made a similar stop in June last year.