BANGKOK: Tesla has scrapped plans to set up an electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Thailand and will focus solely on charging stations, according to a source at Government House.
The decision follows the layoffs of a team of Tesla executives that visited Thailand in November-December.
"Tesla is currently 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," said the source.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin announced in November last year that Tesla was poised to make Thailand a hub of its EV manufacturing. The announcement came after he held several meetings with Tesla executives, both in the US and Thailand.
Srettha toured Tesla’s Fremont Factory in California during his US visit for the 30th Apec Economic Leaders' Meeting in November, meeting with Tesla executives and posing with a Cybertruck, Tesla’s flagship electric vehicle.
Srettha and ruling Pheu Thai Party leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra hosted senior Tesla executive Rohan Patel at the Yi Peng festival in Chiang Mai on Nov 28.
At around the same time, the PM announced Tesla was surveying three potential factory sites in Thailand and was expected to announce investment of over US$5 billion in the first quarter of this year.
However, Tesla has now decided to cancel its investment plan in Thailand after disbanding its executive team. The decision is part of Tesla’s withdrawal of investment across Asia and beyond.
Previously, Tesla had announced it had halted plans to build a gigafactory in Mexico until after the US presidential election in November, due to candidate Donald Trump’s pledge to impose a 100% tariff on vehicles made in Mexico.
The gigafactory near Monterrey in Nuevo Leon was first announced in March last year and was expected to start operating in the first quarter of 2025. However, the project has faced multiple delays and uncertainty.
By September 2023, some of Tesla's suppliers had slowed their own plans to build new manufacturing facilities in Mexico, worried they wouldn’t be completed on time. In October, Tesla confirmed it had paused the project due to economic concerns. - The Nation/ANN
