Elon Musk Aims to Boost Tesla's Presence in Japan, Preps Next-Gen Vehicle

Elon Musk is frustrated with low sales in what is still one of the world’s largest car-buying countries, a new report claimed.

Elon Musk Wants Tesla To Be Big In Japan

“There are some geographies where our market share is remarkably low, like Japan,” Elon Musk stated on a fourth-quarter earnings conference call Wednesday. “We should at least have a market share proportionate to, say, other non-Japanese carmakers like Mercedes or BMW, which we do not currently have.”

Musk blamed a "lack of awareness," which he said he had heard from friends in Japan. A lack of ambition is not the problem. Musk once projected that Japan would be the company's largest market outside the United States, as per Bloomberg.

Tesla Claims Next-Gen Vehicle Will Begin Production In Q2 2025

Tesla claimed its next-generation vehicle will go into production in the second half of 2025. Tesla's next-generation vehicle is expected to help the automaker achieve a new pricing point that will be more affordable to more customers. It will be a whole new car with new production lines, and it is intended to help Tesla continue to expand.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, announced on the Q4 2023 and Full Year 2024 Earnings Call that the next-generation vehicle will go into production in the second half of 2025. While speculations about "Redwood," a possible codename for its next-generation vehicle, have begun to circulate, information about the vehicle remains few, as per Teslarati.

Tesla has long contemplated delivering a Robotaxi-based vehicle with no human controls, but it is unclear whether this next-generation vehicle will be designed for full autonomy. Instead, it appears that the new car is more focused on cost, which is Tesla's key to future growth.

In the short term, Tesla anticipates a “notable” reduction in volume growth rate. “Our company is currently between two major growth waves: the first one began with the global expansion of the Model 3/Y platform and the next one we believe will be initiated by the global expansion of the next-generation vehicle platform. In 2024, our vehicle volume growth rate may be notably lower than the growth rate achieved in 2023, as our teams work on the launch of the next-generation vehicle at Gigafactory Texas,” the company said.

“We are focused on bringing the next-generation platform to market as quickly as we can, with the plan to start production at Gigafactory Texas. This platform will revolutionize how vehicles are manufactured,” it added.

Long-term, this will result in increased production and sales. Musk predicts a difficult road ahead in the production of the next-generation car.

The CEO is no stranger to being on the lines, having regularly brought up the Model 3 ramp. He appears to anticipate a similar difficulty with this vehicle, stating that staff will actually "be sleeping" on production lines once production begins.

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