“YOU ask Tesla, I don’t work for Tesla.”

Such is Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz’s response when quizzed about US carmaker Tesla Inc’s decision to scrap plans to build factories in Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Free Malaysia Today reported.

Asked if his ministry would be issuing an official statement, Zafrul said “thank you” to reporters and left.

Yesterday, Thai news portal The Nation reported that Tesla has scrapped plans to build electric vehicle manufacturing plants in Southeast Asian countries.

Quoting a Thai government source, The Nation reported that the electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer will focus solely on charging stations.

“Tesla is only discussing charging stations, with the factory plans suspended not just in Thailand but worldwide. They are not proceeding in Malaysia, Indonesia, or anywhere else except for China, America and Germany,” the news portal quoted the source as saying.

It is understood that the Tesla team of executives leading the company’s push into Southeast Asia last year has since been disbanded.

Earlier today, Bernama quoted a MITI spokesman as saying that Tesla could have scrapped its plan as part of a commercial decision on its global operations.

However, the spokesman said this does not reflect poorly on the industrial reforms and improved investment landscape the ministry and its agencies have worked on since Dec 2022. - Aug 8, 2024 

https://focusmalaysia.my/ask-tesla-tengku-zafrul-brushes-off-questions-about-ev-makers-aborted-factory-plans-1/