Tesla and BYD have risen to levels of global dominance thanks in part to China, the world’s largest electric vehicle market. But with the pace of China’s growth slowing, the two electric vehicle giants are now looking abroad for more growth opportunities. Tesla, which first sparked a fierce price war in China last year, now sees the neighboring Southeast Asia region as its next opportunity.
Southeast Asia “will be a major growth location in the coming years in battery storage and electric vehicle adoption,” Rohan Patel, senior public policy and business development executive, wrote in. an X message on Tuesday.
The Tesla executive responded to a user’s post commemorating the first deliveries of Tesla’s Model Y car in the Southeast Asian country of Malaysia.
Malaysia granted Tesla a license to sell in the country last year. The US-based electric vehicle maker also opened a headquarters, service hub and experience center in the Malaysian state of Selangor and promised to invest in a network of fast charging stations across the country.
Tesla is also in talks with Thailand, the region’s largest auto maker and exporter, to build a manufacturing plant in the country.
Indonesia is also courting Tesla to set up a base in the country, which holds vast reserves of nickel, a component used in some electric vehicle batteries. Indonesian President Joko Widodo even paid a personal visit to Tesla CEO Elon Musk at the SpaceX launch site in Texas in 2022.
Yet Tesla may be racing against time to establish itself as a dominant player in Southeast Asia’s electric vehicle sector. Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD, which overtook Tesla in battery electric vehicle sales late last year, is also targeting this small but fast-growing market.
BYD sold 26% of all electric vehicles in Southeast Asia, compared to Tesla’s 8% in the second quarter of last year, according to Reuters citing Counterpoint Research. The Chinese EV maker was the best-selling EV brand in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore last year.
BYD is also expanding its production in Southeast Asia. The electric vehicle maker opened its first Thai car plant last March. The plant, which BYD expects to come online this year, will have an annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles, serving both the domestic and export markets.
BYD is also investing $1.3 billion to build a factory in Indonesia, according to a senior Indonesian government official at a BYD launch event in early January.