Tesla opened its first service center in Malaysia on Thursday in Cyberjaya, next door to the company’s sales and experience center.
The 22,000-square-foot facility is equipped with four 250-kilowatt superchargers and three 7- to 22-kilowatt destination chargers and aims to provide maintenance and repairs for Tesla vehicles sold in the country.
Tesla says its electric vehicles are designed to need minimal maintenance, with fewer moving parts that typically require repair. The company strives to eliminate the need for service through remote diagnostics and frequent software updates that are sent wirelessly to vehicles.
The Malaysia service center opening comes as Tesla ramps up sales efforts across Southeast Asia. The company currently has a manufacturing facility in Shanghai and sells vehicles in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand, among other countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Analysts say service and charging infrastructure have lagged behind due to lower adoption rates of electric vehicles in Southeast Asia. Tesla’s move to open a company-owned service center, versus relying on third parties, signals its commitment to growing sales in Malaysia and other nearby emerging markets.
Our Thoughts
In my view, Tesla’s new company-owned service center in Malaysia shows the automaker is serious about increasing sales in Southeast Asia. Establishing its own footprint rather than relying on third-parties proves Tesla is willing to invest in the region’s long-term growth potential.
But commitment will be judged on actual sales – one service center alone means little if overall deliveries do not rise substantially across Malaysia and neighboring countries in coming years.