EVwire brief: Tesla has teased an official launch in Uruguay, posting a short animated clip over the weekend that lit up the country's silhouette beneath the Tesla wordmark and the Spanish caption "Estamos llegando" ("We are arriving").
The teaser was shared by Tesla's official Latin America account on X:
The teaser did not come out of nowhere. Tesla named Joaquín Lizarralde as country manager for both Argentina and Uruguay in late June, treating the area as a single operational zone, with early priorities in charging, service, and energy partnerships.
Uruguayan regulators have separately homologated the Model 3 and Model Y, three versions of each, the sign-off a carmaker needs before it can sell locally, with units set to ship from Giga Shanghai. An official launch would add Uruguay to the South American markets where Tesla already sells directly, such as Chile and Colombia.
Uruguay will be Tesla’s third market in South America
Context:
The post is Tesla's clearest move yet toward selling vehicles directly in a country it has never officially served. Every Tesla now driving in Uruguay arrived through grey-market importers, with no factory warranty or service behind it.
Hundreds of Teslas already run on Uruguayan roads despite the absence of official sales. The first Model 3 landed in 2020, and government data from Uruguay XXI counted close to 80 imported between 2020 and mid-2024. Local firm AutoImport has been the main channel, bringing in Model 3 and Model Y units routed through a Chinese partner, since many Teslas are built in Giga Shanghai.
There are already Teslas on Uruguay’s roads, but they are sold through the gray market
Tesla is arriving into a market Chinese brands already lead. BYD tops EV sales in Uruguay, and several Chinese makers have used the country as a regional testbed before expanding. Uruguay punches above its weight on EVs, with a renewable-heavy grid, tax incentives, and battery-electric share that has topped 20% in recent quarters, among the highest in Latin America.
Source: Tesla Latinoamérica on X
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