Cars
Published in July 18, 2020 |
by Johnna Crider
July 18, 2020 by Johnna crider
Yahoo! Japan He reported that apart from China, Tesla could be considering giant plans at sites in Japan or South Korea. The article noted that Elon Musk was asked on Twitter about plans to build a new plant in Asia outside of China. “Yes, but first we have to finish Giga Berlin and a second American Giga to serve the eastern half of North America,” was Elon Musk’s response.
Yes, but first we have to finish Giga Berlin and a second US Giga to serve the eastern half of North America
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 5, 2020
Yahoo! Japan He noted that a media source (not linked or named) said Tesla could choose Japan or South Korea, both of which have a well-established auto industry. With all of that said, I wanted to do a comparison and a short, hour-long survey to see which country, if so, people thought Tesla would pick for his next Asian Gigafactory.
Survey time! If Tesla built another Gigafactory in Asia and boiled down to these two countries, Japan or South Korea, which country do you think Tesla would go to?
– Johnna💕 (@ JohnnaCrider0) July 17, 2020
The results were in favor of South Korea. Of course, an hour was a short time for such a poll, there were only 55 votes and there’s a huge potential bias built into a Twitter poll, but it’s a way of thinking about the possibilities.
South Korea’s love for Tesla has been a popular news topic recently, while Japan has been slow to enter the EV revolution. However, let’s look at a few more factors.
Japan
In Japan, as in China, there is an official Tesla Motors Twitter account and even a blog dedicated to information related to Tesla Japan. For me, this means that Tesla takes its online presence in Japan very seriously. Japan is also the third largest automotive market in the world.
However, even though Tesla is dominating the electric vehicle market globally, in Japan it is not really that popular. This is partly related to the fact that the electric vehicle market is not very strong there, but also partly because foreign brands do not have much market share there. An article in The Japan Times He said that in 2019, about 90% of imported vehicles purchased in Japan were Teslas. However, the total purchased was only 1,378 units. So yes, Tesla is still dominant in a relative sense, but the real competition is the traditional automakers that produce millions of gas vehicles.
Tesla is now officially the most valuable automaker in the world! Congratulations !! 🎉🎉🚀 @elonmusk @tesla pic.twitter.com/BSovZVTGJ3
– Elon’s World 🔥🩳🔥 (@ElonsWorld) June 10, 2020
In 2010, Japan was the first Asian destination to receive Tesla vehicles: Roadsters were shipped from California to Yokohama. Even Elon Musk said, “With its combination of high-level car enthusiasts and interest in and appreciation of cutting-edge technology, Japan is a natural market for the Roadster. The Tesla Roadster is a no-compromise vehicle (dakyo no nai) that doesn’t sacrifice performance, design or engineering. “
This was long before Tesla’s world dominance in the electric vehicle market and its n position. No. 1 in the automotive market for a time in some ways, but it shows that Tesla has a history with Japanese customers and an established presence there. This really puts Japan in favor of being chosen as a site for the next Asian Gigafactory, especially if that could mean a lot more sales there.
Additionally, Japan is home to some of the best-known legacy car manufacturers, such as Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Suzuki, Mazda, Subaru, Yamaha, Mitsubishi, Isuzu, Infiniti, Acura, Lexus, and Kawasaki, to name a few. . Vehicles made in Japan have won numerous awards over the years, including European Car of the Year, International Car of the Year, and World Car of the Year.
In June, and again more recently, Tesla surpassed Toyota as the world’s most valuable automaker in terms of market capitalization in the stock market. Toyota sells many more vehicles than Tesla, but that could change in the next decade. In such a case, it may make sense that Tesla has a factory in Japan, just as Honda and Toyota have factories in the United States today.
Japan is also the home of Panasonic, which has been a key partner for Tesla for many years and helped build, finance and now operate Tesla’s first gigafactory.
South Korea
South Korea may not have its own Tesla arm, as China and Japan do, but the country loves Tesla. Even though Japan is struggling to sell Teslas, or EV in general, this is not the case in South Korea. As with Japan, Tesla dominated sales of imported electric vehicles in the country, but obtained many more vehicles than Japan. South Korea seems to be more open to the idea of electric vehicles in general.
South Korea first. But Cybertrucks in Tokyo? That is pure cyberpunk!
– Debra (@ChelseaRhode) July 17, 2020
Omar Qazi explained that he believed South Korea would be chosen if he was between the two. “A lot of battery production there,” he explained. One thing South Korea is known for is its development in battery technology. LG Chem is arguably the largest and leading EV battery company in the world, and South Korea is also home to a couple of other major battery producers, SK Innovation and Samsung SDI. In 2019, approximately 4.7 billion won ($ 3.9 million) in lithium-ion batteries were exported from the country.
As with Japan, South Korea has its own established automakers, Hyundai and Kia, especially, and they have been more open to electrification than Japanese automakers.
Tesla does not have an established presence in South Korea from a corporate perspective, as it does in Japan. Sure, it has Tesla stores, but unlike China and Japan, it doesn’t have a dedicated corporate Twitter for South Korea or a blog.
Japan or South Korea?
What you think? Would Tesla choose Japan because of the size of the auto market there and the opportunity to perhaps have a much bigger foot in the door there? Would you choose South Korea because of the existing popularity?
Would Japan favor due to Panasonic’s presence there, or South Korea for certain supply chain and logistics advantages?
How much do the general political realities and the opening of nations to foreigners and foreign companies come into play here?
Neither market is as big as China, neither market is, so a gigafactory would also send cars to other parts of Asia. Which markets have the greatest potential for Tesla sales and have the closest proximity and ties to Japan or Korea?
Perhaps most importantly for many of us, how far is a second Asian gigafactory from Tesla?
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About the Author
Johnna Crider is a Baton Rouge artist, gem and mineral collector, member of the International Gem Society, and a Tesla shareholder who believes in Elon Musk and Tesla. Elon Musk advised him in 2018 to “believe in good.” Tesla is one of the many good things to believe in. You can find Johnna on Twitter
