Already operating with success in Singapore, why has Tesla by-passed Malaysia for Thailand?
This is another big car manufacturer that has decided to give Malaysia a ‘pass’ and invest in our neighboring countries.
First we heard about Tesla Motors setting up business in Singapore back in July 2020, then it was Hyundai Motors huge investment in Singapore (where land is very scarce and labour costs are very high and happen to be mostly Malaysians anyway) then came news about Hyundai Motor’s state of the art electric car factory in Indonesia.
Then in June 2021 Great Wall Motor announced it’s factory opening in Rayong, Thailand and this followed with Chery making Indonesia its ASEAN export hub.
Now, comes news that Tesla Motors is about to start business operations in Thailand, leaving Malaysian electric car lovers wondering why Elon Musk has decided to keep Malaysia out of its ASEAN business expansion.
Well, with a ‘narrow’ 2022 National Automotive Policy presented last year by the previous government and also a well known fact that our Automotive Agency (MAArii) has been riddled with corruption, car manufacturers will prefer to work with our neighbors and leave private car importers (PEKEMA) in Malaysia to continue importing and selling Tesla’s without a factory warranty and authorized after-sales.
Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley equity analyst Adam Jonas recently surveyed investors about the ongoing Twitter drama and its potential impact on Tesla’s stock price as well as its underlying business.
“Our investor survey reinforces our views that Elon Musk’s recent involvement with Twitter has contributed to negative sentiment momentum in Tesla shares and could drive some degree of adverse downside skew to Tesla fundamentals,” Jonas wrote.
Nearly 75 percent of survey respondents believe the Twitter situation accounted for a significant portion of Tesla’s recent share price underperformance, according to the note.
Tesla’s value slump has been notable since Musk closed the Twitter deal in late October, with the stock falling 25 percent and losing USD150 billion in market value, compared to the S&P 500 being up 3 percent.
Interestingly, even more concerning from the survey is that about 65 percent of respondents said the Twitter fiasco “will have negative or slightly negative impact on Tesla’s business going forward.”
The potential downside risks to Tesla exposed by Musk’s focus on Twitter include consumer sentiment/demand, commercial partnerships, government relations/support, and capital markets support, according to the note.
Jonas also highlighted the company’s rare ability to generate profits before incentives on the sale of EVs, and its “unique position” to secure the supply of battery metals necessary to produce EVs at multimillion-unit scale.
So, it looks like despite all the negative impact from the Twitter deal, Tesla Motors will stay resilient and ASEAN electric car buyers will keep the business running well.
