Governor Samuel Garcia is a man in a hurry, juggling his daughter's birth and Tesla's arrival in northern Mexico, which hopes to benefit from a new wave of foreign investment.
Production of Tesla electric vehicles could begin next January at the giant new factory outside the city of Monterrey, the 35-year-old Nuevo Leon state governor said.
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.
Work to build the new Tesla plant could begin in April, Garcia told AFP in an interview, just hours before rushing to the maternity ward.
The fresh-faced politician later posted a video of his daughter's birth on Instagram, where he had also shared a photo of himself meeting Tesla boss Elon Musk in early March.
Little more than a week after Musk confirmed at the start of this month plans to build a new "giga factory" in Mexico, his teams were already inspecting land outside Monterrey.
While Musk gave few details about the new plant, Mexico's government said the investment would total about $5 billion.
"It's a huge piece of land where they're going to build the biggest factory in the world," Garcia said, adding that the plot was believed to cover more than 1,600 hectares (around 4,000 acres).
The politician hopes the investment will create 7,000 direct—and some 40-50,000 indirect—jobs in Monterrey.
'Welcome Tesla' reads a billboard in Mexico's northern city of Monterrey, where US electric car maker plans to open a giant factory.