Ford Motor Co and Hyundai Motor Co are discussing with Indonesia how to establish operations related to electric vehicles there, according to Indonesia Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, told an audience in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.
In July, Ford, nickel miner Vale Indonesia, and China's Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt announced they had signed a non-binding memorandum of cooperation to build a plant in Indonesia to extract nickel chemicals.
Indonesia is also in discussions with Hyundai and LG Energy Solution over battery and EV investments.
According to Hatarto, Indonesia has raw materials for EV battery technologies, and their large supplies of nickel and semiconductor production capacity can support the US auto industry.