Indonesian President Joko Widodo has said that talks are still ongoing with Elon Musk about the possibility of Tesla investing in his country. Tesla CEO Musk is looking for new markets around the world. Because his company wants to set up more production facilities and compete in developing economies.
According to media reports, in an interview, Widodo reportedly said that talks are ongoing for Tesla’s possible investment in Indonesia. Musk has been interested in investing in Indonesia for some time now and although talks are ongoing, there have been no concrete results yet.
One of the major obstacles is that Indonesia is not a big market for electric vehicles (EVs) at the moment. And also does not boast of huge infrastructure related to charging. However, it has tried to woo foreign carmakers by announcing subsidies for manufacturing as well as the purchase of battery-powered vehicles. However, this may not be an ideal location for large scale. It’s not there yet anyway.
Some previous reports have also suggested that Malaysia could be a more suitable location for Tesla than neighboring Indonesia. Or other Asian markets may prove altogether more profitable. Musk had gone to Indonesia, but he had visited India before. The world’s richest man has his eye on the world’s third-largest automobile market. However high import tax is a major obstacle for the company’s potential entry into India. India wants Tesla to manufacture locally, or at least be assured of a timeline for local production, to avail exemption on import tax rates.
Be it Indonesia, Malaysia, India, or any other market, Tesla has a clear expansion policy as it wants to increase its lead over rivals. The US-based EV giant has a stated target of manufacturing 20 million EVs by 2030. Which many say is a very ambitious goal even by Tesla’s high standards. And for this, Tesla will simply have to enter new markets and potentially introduce more affordable models.
