KUALA LUMPUR: Stiff competition from Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers prompted Tesla to cancel its plans to build factories in Southeast Asia, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said that the US carmaker shared this with Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.
"Tengku Zafrul is getting the latest information (on reports suggesting that) they (Tesla) are facing losses and cannot compete with Chinese Electric Vehicles.
"Their operations in Thailand are large while we're just starting.
"We received the information (about Tesla's investment) directly (from the company), not from media coverage," Anwar told reporters after the launching ceremony of the Guidelines on the Management and Governance of Federal Statutory Bodies here.
Yesterday, Thai online news portal The Nation cited unnamed sources within the government claiming that Tesla is cancelling its plans to develop factories in Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia.
The report also said that Tesla's current discussions are only focused on efforts related to charging stations and has suspended plans to develop factories not just in Thailand but globally.
As a response, Zafrul said Tesla has never committed to opening a factory in Malaysia and their discussions involved the efforts to attract investment and did not involve setting up a factory.
Besides, he also downplayed the report as it came from unnamed sources and not an official statement from Tesla.
In March last year, Tesla announced plans to open a headquarters in Malaysia, introduce a Tesla Experience Centre and Service Centre, and establish a super-fast charging network in the country.
This followed MITI's approval of Tesla's application to import battery electric vehicles (BEVs) into Malaysia.