Elon Musk often acts as the defacto PR department for Tesla Motors and in a Tweet today – in the mist of the Model 3 unveil – the CEO announced that Tesla would be expanding into at least 7 more countries. The expansion includes 6 continents and includes the BRIC countries of Brazil and India, South Africa (CEO Elon Musk’s birthplace), South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, and Ireland. The tweet left room for others that might not fit into the 140 character medium.
Here it is in full:
Adding several more countries to Model 3 order page tonight. Check for details, but will include India, Brazil, SA, SK, NZ, Sing & Ireland.
We’ve discussed Tesla’s expansion plans into Ireland, the symbolism of South Africa where Tesla is already operating with its ‘Tesla Energy’ division, and South Korea, where partners LG and Samsung, two of the biggest Lithium battery suppliers in the world are headquartered.
While Musk was first referring to reservations being available for the Model 3, he confirmed soon after that the Model S and X will also be available in those countries.
@roddrury X and S will also be available
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 31, 2016
Tesla also soon plans to go deeper in the Middle East and Latin America according to Tweets from last year. Tesla expanded into Jordan last year and more Middle Eastern countries are expected to follow.
The automaker also entered Mexico late last year with a few new hires, a “pop up store” in Mexico City and reservations for the Model S and X.
But the announcement today is the most significant expansion for Tesla in a long time.
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Brazil?! That’s so awesome! Too bad taxes for imported cars here are harsh, but I can’t wait to see Tesla’s in my country!
You are not very up to date. The Import tax for electric vehicles zeroed last year (was 35% before). Electric cars still fall in the highest IPI bracket (25% tax), and even if reformed to take account the actual power of the individual car electric engine Tesla cars would probably still end there.
There is a project already approved in the Environment Commission of the parliament to zero the IPI on locally produced electric cars for 10 years, but Tesla probably won’t benefit from it so soon. The one lobbying the most for those tax breaks seems to be Nissan. Their CEO is brazilian and they are probably the most well positioned to locally produce electric cars, after the economic downturn ends of course.
Those tax exemptions are almost equivalent to the electric vehicles tax breaks on US, as indirect taxes are much higher than direct ones on Brazil.
Which means a production ramp but I’ll still doubtful they’ll hit 90000 sales this year. My guess is closer to 75k but I’m happy to be wrong.
What a missed headline opportunity, model s, e and x
that was the initial idea but Ford holds the trademark for the “Model E”, don’t forget that Tesla holds the trademark on the “Model Y” which probably be a “baby X” , get it? S3XY 😉 http://fortune.com/2014/05/07/tesla-drops-model-e-trademark-but-ford-hangs-on/
Ford holds trademark on “Model E” so they changed their plans to “Model 3”, don’T forget they also hold the trademark on “Model Y”, get it? S3XY (Model Y is rumoured to be a Model 3 on steroids, or a “baby X” if you want
Did you notice the Model 3 logo is the same as the E in TESLA 😀 So he got his Model E after all
Turkey is also one of the new countries.