According to foreign media reports, in order to deal with the pollution problem caused by urban traffic, Singapore's new car registration is strictly controlled, which is a good time for Tesla. Tesla's electric car sales are soaring, gobbling up the market share of competitors. Tesla's sales in Singapore increased more than tenfold to 487 in the third quarter from 30 in the first half, according to (LTA), Singapore's land transport authority.
In September, Tesla registered 314 cars in Singapore, almost the same as Hyundai, but still lagged behind Toyota (778) and Honda (466). However, of the 36629 new cars registered in Singapore in the first nine months of this year, Tesla accounted for only 1.4 per cent, while Toyota ranked first with 20.4 per cent, followed by Mercedes-Benz (14.6 per cent) and BMW (11.9 per cent).
Because of the ownership tax, Singapore is one of the most expensive places in the world to buy cars. Tesla's basic Model 3 costs nearly S $200000 (US $148300) in Singapore, while a basic Model 3 in the US costs less than US $40, 000.
Experts say there are many reasons for the surge in electric vehicle sales, but Singapore announced this year that it would provide a subsidy of up to S $45000 for the purchase of electric vehicles. Tesla is better than its competitors in dealing with the supply chain crisis, so it may just be able to deliver more cars than its competitors.
Tim Shim, a software engineer, ordered a Tesla Model 3 five years ago, but only recently did Tesla get the car as he began selling it in Singapore this year. "I bought this car because I am a fan and shareholder of Tesla."
New consumers still have to wait four to 12 weeks to get a car, according to Tesla's website.
With the help of fans such as Shim, Tesla became the sixth most popular car brand in Singapore in September, surpassing Nissan, Audi and Kia in sales.
Tesla declined to comment on its sales in Singapore.
Singapore's strict restrictions on car registration will last until early 2025, meaning Tesla's growth in Singapore market share is based on the market share lost by competitors.
Although the average monthly registration of new cars in Singapore decreased by an average of 15.8% in the third quarter compared with the first half of the year, Tesla, Hyundai and Kia, the three carmakers, bucked the trend, according to data provided by the media. Registrations for Hyundai and Kia increased by 13.6% and 25%, respectively.
The average monthly new car registrations of Daimler's Mercedes-Benz and Nissan fell 45 per cent and 27 per cent respectively in the third quarter compared with the first half of this year.
Andy Seo, who has shifted from Volvo to Tesla, said: "compared with the same class cars of well-known western brands such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW, Tesla's price is lower." He said it would cost about S $20 to S $30 to recharge an Model 3 near his home.
Boer of Nanyang Polytechnic University expects the Tesla craze to fade for a long time to come as competition intensifies, but he says the Tesla craze is likely to expand the adoption of electric cars in Singapore.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has criticized Singapore for not supporting electric cars. Recently, however, Singapore plans to phase out all internal combustion engine vehicles by 2040 and adopt a series of measures to encourage consumers to buy electric vehicles, such as more tax breaks and more subsidies.
