Tesla is preparing to launch its electric vehicles in Thailand for the first time with a significant hiring spree.
It has been a little while since Tesla has expanded into a brand-new market. The company was trying hard to enter the Indian market for years, but the effort was put on hold earlier this year after negotiations with the government stalled.
A few weeks later, we learned that Tesla’s new market team turned its attention to Southeast Asia, and more specifically Thailand.
The automaker filed to register its product for sale in the country. That was the first indication that Tesla planned to enter the market.
Now Tesla’s effort is ramping up as the automaker has posted 16 job openings based in Bangkok, Thailand.
The jobs range from service advisor to store manager in order to staff a new Tesla Center in Bangkok, but there are also several managerial positions to establish a wider presence in the country:
Most importantly, one of the best indications that Tesla is entering a new market is if the automaker is planning to open a Supercharger in said market.
Based on its Supercharger map, Tesla still doesn’t have any planned station in Thailand, but the hiring spree shows some positions related to building out charging infrastructure:
Everything points toward Tesla preparing to soon launch its electric vehicles in Thailand.
While Tesla hasn’t officially entered the country yet, there are already quite a few Tesla vehicles in Thailand. They have been imported privately by the owners – and that’s a factor that Tesla takes into account when considering entering a new market. If many people are willing to go through the trouble of importing the vehicle, there’s a good chance that there’s a market for its vehicles in the country.
We even reported on the Thai police buying a fleet of Tesla Model 3 vehicles for police patrol back in 2020, pictured above.
The Thai auto market is more significant than most people would think. More than 750,000 cars were sold in the market last year, and it is expected to ramp up to 800K–900K this year. However, most of those vehicles are not in the same price range as Tesla vehicles.
Thailand would be the first Southeast Asian country where Tesla would officially sell its vehicles.
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