Tesla cannot compete with Chinese EV makers: Anwar

The minister of investment, trade and industry is in the process of getting updates from Tesla regarding its investment in Malaysia, said Malaysian prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, reported New Straits Times.

The prime minister said this in response to a prior report claiming that the American EV maker is cancelling its plans to build factories in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

“Tengku Zafrul is getting the latest information on reports suggesting that [Tesla] are facing losses and cannot compete with Chinese electric vehicles. Their operations are large, while we’re just starting. We received the information [about Tesla’s investment] directly [from the company], not from media coverage,” the prime minister said.

Though faced with this situation, Malaysia is less affected by the EV maker’s decision as it had planned to merely increase its investment in the country, compared to Thailand where Tesla had plans to assemble its vehicles, reported Astro Awani.

Earlier this week, Thai publication The Nation reported that Tesla had scrapped plans for the setting up of an EV factory in Thailand, Malaysia or Indonesia, and will instead focus on setting up its network of charging stations.

This was followed by the ministry of investment, trade and industry (MITI) saying that the alleged cancellation was not stated officially by Tesla, and was separately cited as saying that Tesla’s decision to reportedly scrap plans for its Southeast Asian production operations could be due to commercial reasons.

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