Bhisma Nambiar
Electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla is set to enter Malaysia officially as announced by Tengku Zafrul, the Minister of International Trade & Industry (MITI). Tesla will establish a head office, experience (showrooms) and service centres here, alongside setting up their fast-charging Supercharger network1.
Tesla has received approval from MITI to import its electric vehicles into Malaysia. This was revealed by its minister, Tengku Zafrul on his Twitter account. Zafrul noted that Tesla’s entry into Malaysia was done through a program that was set up by the ministry called BEV Global Leaders. This initiative is meant to increase the BEV demand in Malaysia and the minister noted that Tesla was the program’s first applicant2.
Aside from EVs, the company will also establish an office here alongside showrooms and service centres. Naturally, Tesla will be setting up a Supercharger network in Malaysia too which would bode well not only for local Tesla owners but also those in Thailand and Singapore since this would allow them to travel seamlessly between the three countries2.
Tesla operates on a direct-to-consumer sales model without involving dealers. Tesla Experience centres are just a place where you can learn more about a Tesla but you will have to place a booking online and take delivery of your car when your stock has been allocated3. Since Tesla does not work with any shareholding partners in any country that it operates in, some concessions could have been made with certain requirements like franchise APs which could have been granted as part of the BEV Global Leaders initiative3.
In October 2022, Tesla submitted a notification to change its Malaysian subsidiary’s nature of business from shared service operation to automotive sales retail and services. In today’s announcement, Zafrul did not mention when exactly Tesla will roll out its first EV in Malaysia but nevertheless this is indeed a significant update2.