Tesla officially registered in Thailand – filing shows it will sell passenger vehicles, pick-ups and light CVs

Tesla officially registered in Thailand – filing shows it will sell passenger vehicles, pick-ups and light CVs

It appears that Tesla is officially setting foot in Thailand, after documents of its registration with the Kingdom’s ministry of commerce cropped up on social media.

According to a Twitter user, Tesla Thailand is registered for the sale of “new passenger vehicles, pick-up trucks, vans, and similar light motor vehicles.” Not much else is known at the moment, but a key individual named in the filing is one David Jon Feinstein, Tesla’s global senior director for trade market access.

In January 2021, Feinstein was appointed as director of Tesla India, but the automaker has yet to make its official entry into the world’s second most populous nation. This is because Tesla is still lobbying for lower import taxes, but the Indian government is pushing it to commit to local assembly.

Meanwhile, Tesla has been circling the region to set up shop. So far, Indonesia seems to be the most prospective market – talks have been going on for some time now, and it seems that the American carmaker has agreed to build a battery and EV factory at an industrial complex in the Central Java province.

No official announcement was made by the Indonesian government thus far, but it did say that Tesla will be entering the market sometime this year. The only ASEAN country with an official Tesla retail presence so far is Singapore.

There’s no word on a Malaysian retail presence, but there is the intention to establish supercharger sites, presumably to support Singaporean Tesla vehicles driving on Malaysian roads.

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Matthew H Tong

An ardent believer that fun cars need not be fast and fast cars may not always be fun. Matt advocates the purity and simplicity of manually swapping cogs while coping in silence of its impending doom. Matt's not hot. Never hot.

 

Comments

  • Hutan on May 25, 2022 at 11:21 am

    I guess for Tesla between Singapore and Thailand is just a scenic route through the rainforest for the supercharger highway. Maybe the local populace will worship the cars from their tree houses as the cars pass-by.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 9
    • Unknown on May 25, 2022 at 11:55 am

      Which is why PM Sabri was smart enough to:
      https://paultan.org/2022/05/13/tesla-open-to-idea-of-establishing-supercharger-network-in-malaysia-willing-to-discuss-further-mida/

      He knows that 70% of car ownership is in the service and refuel, so we get the best of both countries, since Tesla have not made a 1000km range EV yet.

      Kudos to a far visioned PM.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 13 Thumb down 8
  • Casual reader on May 25, 2022 at 11:25 am

    Haha so despite the courtship by Indonesia and Malaysia it was Thailand that quietly got the deal with Tesla. The silent mouse gets the cheese while the roaring lions got nothing.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 8
    • Read better on May 25, 2022 at 12:23 pm

      Indonesia wants a Tesla Factory la, Malaysia too. This Thailand filing is to sell cars officially, like Singapore.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 3
  • seancorr on May 25, 2022 at 12:16 pm

    Haha shame on us. Next will be the Philippines announcing Tesla has entered their market.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 6
    • Celup King on May 26, 2022 at 9:28 am

      Shame what. We have VW
      https://paultan.org/2022/05/25/volkswagen-to-overtake-tesla-ev-sales-by-2025-ceo/

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
      • Shiok sendiri. Face the truth, the most prominents are not interested in the tanah malayu.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Meanwhile Malaysia will be left behind with just the Supercharger and no retail sales of Tesla cars in the country for the years to come.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 3
  • ROTI CANAI on May 25, 2022 at 10:00 pm

    tsakut apa, malaysia ada porsches – azmin

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 1
 

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