"The country loving Elon Musk the most right now could be Türkiye," reads a report by a top Turkish daily on Monday.
While sales of Tesla are falling in many markets such as the U.S., Europe and China, it is literally selling out in Türkiye, said the report from Hürriyet.
In Europe, Tesla sales fell by 49% in April, dropping to 7,000 units. Similarly, the EV maker saw a 6% decline in China, one of its largest markets, while its sales in the U.S. dropped by 13% in the first quarter of the year.
At the same time, the company also suffered significant profitability losses in the first quarter. This was mainly attributed to Musk’s political involvement, but also to the increasing competition in the EV sector.
However, due to its competitive pricing, strong demand in Türkiye is providing Musk with much-needed relief.
To keep the new Model Y within the 10% Special Consumption Tax (ÖTV) bracket, the company applied a special discount and set the price of this model in Türkiye as TL 1.87 million (nearly $47,990). Demand is said to be overwhelming.
Most recently, last week, when Model Y was reopened for sales, the surge in demand caused the brand’s website to crash, according to Hürriyet. Users were unable to access the site, and stocks reportedly sold out in a short time.
On social media, some users claimed they purchased the vehicles by accessing the website via VPN from different countries, while others who were blocked by the VPN restriction sent complaint letters to Musk.
Due to the requirement for delivery within 45 days, Tesla can only gradually open a limited number of vehicles for orders.
Still, the number of orders for the new Model Y in Türkiye has quickly exceeded 5,000, according to information obtained by Hürriyet.
Tesla Europe & Middle East also made a statement on the subject due to high demand. The statement said, “We are very excited about the incredible demand for Model Y in Türkiye. Our last inventory listing sold out in minutes. We apologize for any technical issues that may have occurred during the sales process."
