Tesla is planning to double the number of stores in Japan to 50 by the end of next year, local media outlet Nikkei reported on Tuesday.
The US automaker, which has relied mostly on online-only sales in the Asian country, now plans to expand its retail network.
The company aims to grow its store count from 23 to 30 by the end of this year and add another 20 locations in 2026, with a longer-term target of reaching 100 outlets nationwide.
According to Nikkei, the upcoming stores will be directly operated by the brand and are set to be located in shopping/business centres.
The EV maker also plans to expand its fast-charging network across the country. As of the time of writing, the company has 130 fast-charging stations in Japan.
Another measure to ultimately improve sales in the island include supporting the Japanese fast-charging standard, CHAdeMO, which could not be used by Tesla vehicles up until now.
The brand will have a dedicated adapter so Tesla owners can choose from both the brand’s fast-chargers and CHAdeMO’s.
Nikkei estimates sales of the US brand to have increased 70% year over year in the first half of 2025 to around 4,600 vehicles. In 2024, the brand sold 5,600 vehicles in Japan.
Last year, Tesla‘s CEO Elon Musk said the company is targeting brands like Mercedes-Benz, which sells the most imported vehicles in the Japanese market — over 53,000 units in 2024.
According to him, the company “should at least have a market share proportionate” to German premium brands.
Earlier this year, the brand halted configuration of the Model S and Model X in the country. “Starting April 1, 2025, only inventory and used vehicles will be available for purchase, and new custom orders will no longer be accepted,” Tesla stated on X.
The two flagship models have been revamped last month, but no timeline has been set for their release in overseas markets.
Contrarily to Tesla‘s sales growth, EV adoption in Japan is going slow. In the first half, battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales fell 7% to about 27,000 units, according to Nikkei.
Consumer preferences in Japan strong domestic brand loyalty and Japanese automakers have been slow to incorporate electric vehicles in their lineups.
Last month, Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda told Automotive News that he thinks one electric vehicle pollutes as much as three hybrid models.
“We have sold some 27 million hybrids. Those hybrids have had the same impact as 9 million BEVs on the road,” he said, adding that “if we were to have made 9 million BEVs in Japan, it would have actually increased the carbon emissions, not reduced them.”
In China, Tesla‘s largest market in Asia, registrations recovered this week from a sharp drop in the first week of July, typical of the start of a new quarter.
The US brand delivered 71,599 vehicles in the Chinese market last month, according to data released by China’s Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
Tesla has launched in India earlier this Tuesday, with its refreshed Model Y.
The model has a starting price of about $71,200 — double its price in the US and China — and deliveries are set to start later this quarter.
