THE Hans Talk column on the WapCar automotive portal recently published a deeply analytical and comprehensive take on the Tesla situation that has been generating heated discussion in Malaysia.
The article references a The Nation report claiming Tesla had dropped plans to invest in manufacturing facilities across ASEAN — specifically Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
The columnist, a highly experienced figure in the automotive landscape, agreed with a section of netizens who pointed out that Tesla never actually announced any intention to establish a manufacturing facility in Malaysia.
That much is true, says Hans. And it was confirmed by Investment, Trade and Industry Minister (MITI) Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz himself, who responded with a statement on his Facebook account:
“MITI never announced that Tesla would open a factory in Malaysia. We did hold discussions with Elon Musk as part of efforts to attract investment, but Tesla never made any commitment to open a factory here.”
However, Hans pushed back with a harder question:
“Yes, Tesla did not state a commitment to build a manufacturing plant in Malaysia — but establishing local production is the long-term target to justify extending advantages to Tesla under the Global Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) Initiative.
“If doing all of this does not lead to achieving the long-term objective of securing high-value investment, why should Malaysia even bother?
“Look at the MITI document below to understand the objective behind Malaysia extending benefits to Tesla under the Global BEV Initiative.
“Zafrul criticised the media for citing a report from an unnamed source in Thailand and said the media should verify the story directly with Tesla.
“He should know that Elon Musk has already fired his entire public relations team — so there is no mechanism to verify any Tesla rumour unless you post a public statement on X and tag Elon directly.”
POLITICS BEHIND THREE OLD MEN COMPETING FOR ELON MUSK’S ATTENTION?
Hans continued:
“Regardless of whether Tesla agrees to set up a factory in Malaysia or not, this topic needs to be understood in the context of the Thai, Indonesian, and Malaysian governments all scrambling for Tesla’s attention — specifically looking to land major manufacturing investment and create jobs.
“Discussions with Elon Musk happened at a time when all three of these governments were either facing an imminent election or desperately trying to rebuild declining public support.
“Signing deals with the world’s richest man is great optics for a politician in trouble.“
Pressing the argument further, the columnist noted that Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin took power in August 2023 following a legally contested election — despite not being the candidate most Thais actually voted for.
In a bid to build public support, just one month into his tenure in September 2023, Srettha announced he was in talks with Elon Musk — posting about it on X, Elon’s own platform.
In Indonesia, President Joko Widodo — with his PDI-P party preparing for the next election at the time — announced in February 2023 that Tesla would be finalising plans to establish a manufacturing facility in Indonesia.
The columnist also noted that Prime Minister Anwar, who assumed power in November 2022, surprised regional peers with an announcement in July 2023 that Tesla would be ‘investing’ in Malaysia.
“That announcement boosted his popularity and landed him a feature in Fortune magazine. However, those who understood the details knew the Tesla ‘investment’ was nothing to write home about.
“In essence, Tesla’s ‘investment’ in Malaysia amounted to renting an office in Cyberjaya, opening a showroom (Tesla Experience Centre) in a shopping mall, and building out a Supercharger network — of which 30 percent was required to be made available to other BEV brands.
“If any other vehicle brand had made this same announcement, it would barely qualify as newsworthy in most publications. A brand opens an office in Cyberjaya, installs some charging stations, and opens a showroom in a mall. What is the actual value of that?”
To date, Tesla has established 10 Supercharging locations (48 DC fast chargers) and 11 Destination Charger stations (57 AC standard chargers) across Malaysia. However, not a single one has been opened to other brands.
The columnist also highlighted that Tesla has yet to invest in building its own body repair and paint facility in Malaysia — the most basic service requirement for customers purchasing a vehicle from an official importer.
Instead, the American brand has appointed third parties to handle accident repair work on its behalf.
Hans explained:
“The goal of extending special privileges to Tesla — or any manufacturer regardless of industry — is obviously to attract high-value investment and create jobs.
“Renting an office in Cyberjaya and opening a shop in a mall is not high-value investment.
“When the Ministry of Finance and MITI exempted import and excise duties for battery electric vehicles (BEVs), this was done with the clear goal of stimulating demand for local assembly (CKD).”
ARE MALAYSIA’S LOYAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTNERS BEING SIDELINED?
Tesla is also the only vehicle brand to have been granted a specific special privilege — an exemption from the AP (Approved Permit) Franchise requirement for vehicle imports.
According to Hans:
“The problem for Malaysia is different from Thailand or Indonesia. By extending special privileges exclusively to Tesla, we have alienated many long-standing partners who have been supporting Malaysian automotive manufacturing for decades.
“Companies that have spent hundreds of millions of ringgit building factories, developing local vendors, operating for decades, providing jobs, and upskilling countless young local workers — all set aside in favour of Tesla.”
Examples cited include:
- Mercedes-Benz Malaysia: assembling the EQS in Pekan, Pahang
- Volvo Car Manufacturing Malaysia: assembling the XC40 Recharge and C40 Recharge in Shah Alam, Selangor
- BMW Group Malaysia: while not building BEV models locally, the company sources high-voltage cables (for locally assembled PHEV models) and wiring harnesses from local vendors, and exports engines and vehicles from its Kulim plant to Thailand and the Philippines
- BMW is also the only manufacturer in Malaysia with a battery collection and recycling programme in place
Hans did clarify, however, that the manufacturers listed above are not engaged in full manufacturing in Malaysia — most European brands conduct semi-knocked down (SKD) assembly operations, though the term CKD is commonly used since SKD does not formally exist in Malaysian industrial policy documentation.
Even these low-volume European manufacturers have not invested in body welding and paint shop facilities at their local assembly operations.
Beyond Proton-Geely, the parties with the deepest manufacturing investment in Malaysia are Daihatsu (Perodua), Toyota, and Honda. Hans noted:
“All of these companies conduct full end-to-end production — stamping steel body panels from raw metal coil rolls, and building everything from seats to dashboards, engines, and transmissions (Toyota and Perodua at Sendayan) right here in Malaysia.
“By favouring Tesla, we are sidelining Malaysia’s most loyal automotive partners — companies that helped us weather multiple economic downturns and never walked away when the market contracted.”
Tengku Zafrul’s defence of MITI’s decision was also addressed by Hans. The Minister’s statement read:
“The purpose of this initiative (the Global BEV Initiative) is to expand the charging network for local EV owners and to increase local company participation in the EV charging ecosystem.
“Through similar programmes, countries like China, Hong Kong, and Norway accelerated their transition to EVs. When this happens, many local SMEs benefit from participation in the EV ecosystem.
“So far, only Tesla has applied and been approved for participation in the Global BEV Initiative, but we welcome other EV manufacturers to participate.
“So when people say Tesla is getting special treatment — that is not accurate. Any company can apply for this initiative.”
IS THE GLOBAL BEV INITIATIVE REALLY ONLY FOR TESLA?
Pressing further, Hans argued that despite the initiative being technically open to all manufacturers, in practice only Tesla would ever qualify.
He stated:
“Zafrul says the Global BEV Initiative is open to everyone — but so far only Tesla has benefited from it. This raises the obvious question: why have no other automotive manufacturers applied?
“A veteran automotive industry executive told me: ‘This initiative was designed for Tesla. The conditions were written specifically for Tesla.'”
Hans went further to argue that BYD, Hyundai, and other leading global BEV manufacturers — who have already confirmed plans to build BEV manufacturing facilities in Thailand and Indonesia — would not qualify for the same benefits Tesla receives.
To be eligible, a manufacturer must meet the following criteria:
- The applicant must be a BEV manufacturer demonstrating significant sales growth over the past five years (meaning from 2018 onward)
- The applicant must own at least one battery factory with a minimum capacity of 1GWh
- The applicant must possess its own proprietary ultra-fast charging technology with a capacity exceeding 180kWh
Hans explained:
“The first and second criteria immediately eliminate most non-Chinese manufacturers. Besides Tesla, BYD, and GWM (SVolt), most manufacturers source their batteries from third-party suppliers.
“The third criterion eliminates every non-Tesla brand outright. No other automotive company owns proprietary charging technology. Even BYD does not operate its own charging network.
“Do not confuse the requirement for the manufacturer to own ultra-fast charging technology with branded charging stations operated by manufacturers — the latter does not qualify.
“What is called the Global BEV Initiative is a farce. It was drafted solely to fast-track Tesla — and only Tesla — into Malaysia.
“In return, Malaysia receives essentially nothing of tangible value from Tesla beyond office rent, a retail lot, and Supercharger stations in high-density urban areas where BEV owners frankly do not need them most.
“Fast chargers are needed along highways — specifically the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, as well as Sabah and Sarawak. Not in the city centre.”
Source: WapCar
