Tengku Zafrul: Tesla Is Officially Coming To Malaysia

We now have somewhat ‘official’ confirmation that leading electric carmaker Tesla will enter the Malaysian market officially.

Whilst we have not heard any official word from the brand itself, Minister of International Trade & Industry (MITI) Tengku Zafrul Aziz took to Twitter this morning to confirm this from his and his ministry’s side.

Based on the infographic shared by Tengku Zafrul via Twitter, he has more or less confirmed initial suspicions about the brand setting up shop officially on Malaysian soil.

Crucially, the minister notes that Tesla has received approval by MITI to import battery electric vehicles (BEV), and that it’s the first brand to apply through MITI’s new BEV Global Leaders Initiative aimed at boosting local BEV demands further.

Other bits confirmed in the Tweet include Tesla setting up a head office, both ‘experience’ and service centres, as well as its Supercharger Network.

While the Minister’s – and his ministry’s – confirmation marks a landmark shift in the local electric vehicles (EVs) business landscape, some questions still remain unanswered for now. Key amongst which is how Tesla will actually operate officially in Malaysia, and whether any concessions were made by MITI regarding certain requirements like a Franchise AP for the brand through its BEV Global Leaders Initiative.

Given Tesla’s preference for a direct to consumer sales model without involving partnering dealers, it seems highly unlikely that we’ll see a local partnership with any local firms. Fact: Tesla does not work with any shareholding partners in any country that it operates in.

Much of this stems from the nature of this particular sales model that Tesla practices. In fact, Tesla Experience centres are merely outlets where customers can learn more about the brand and products – it’s not a traditional sales showroom in that sense. Furthermore, purchases require customers to place online bookings, and only take delivery when stock has been allocated.

How this will bode with Malaysian buyers remains to be seen, as is the brand’s plans for current Malaysian Tesla owners with parallel or ‘grey’ imported (recond) units in terms of official after-sales support. Certainly, this will likely spur a shift for said local recond car dealers and marketspace as well.

As always, we will keep a close eye on the matter and bring you more updates here at CariCarz.com as we get them. In the meantime, what’s your take of Tesla’s impending ‘official’ entry into the local market space? Hit the comments below with your thoughts…