Nikkei reports that governments in India and Southeast Asia are competing fiercely to attract U.S. pure electric vehicle (EV) giant Tesla's vehicle factory. At the same time, Tesla also hopes to reduce its dependence on China in its Asian business as risks intensify.
It is reported that Indian Prime Minister Modi held talks with Musk in New York, the United States, in June 2023. The two parties are believed to have discussed issues such as the introduction of vehicle factories. Prior to this, Tesla executives had visited India to negotiate with the Indian government regarding Tesla's entry into India. In November 2023, Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal visited the Tesla factory in California, USA. There are various signs that Tesla and India are in negotiations, and Tesla is expected to enter this market with a population of more than 1.4 billion.
In addition to India, many countries in Southeast Asia are interested in soliciting Tesla investment and attracting Tesla to local construction projects, including Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc.
Currently, Tesla's factory in Shanghai, China, has an annual output of approximately 950,000 vehicles, accounting for 40% of its global production capacity. It is Tesla's largest factory. In addition to producing the main models "Model Y" and "Model 3", the Shanghai factory is also an export base to Thailand and Japan. If Tesla builds new car factories in places such as India and Southeast Asia, it may weaken the position of the Shanghai factory within Tesla. Japanese media said that for Tesla, the top priority is to establish a supply chain that is not dependent on China.