Tesla is nowhere to be seen in South Africa, but you can find dealerships in a country on the other end of the continent.
The electric carmaker launched its first dealership in Casablanca, Morocco, in February 2026, opening the books for pre-orders for the Model 3 Sedan and Model Y SUV.
It may seem strange that Tesla elected to open its doors in Morocco before South Africa, especially when you consider that the former’s car market is less than half the size of our own.
In 2025, the North African nation sold 235,372 cars, compared to the 596,818 cars sold here.
More generally, roughly 40% of South Africans own a private car – 10% more than in Morocco.
Furthermore, Tesla has already made a splash in South Africa with the rollout of its Powerball backup energy system and Wall Connector EV chargers.
A decade ago, the American automaker appeared to be on track for a full South African launch, but these plans never came to fruiton.
In March 2016, it opened pre-orders for the Model 3, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk previously posted on Twitter (now X) that South Africa was one of five African countries set to receive the brand.
The first deliveries were scheduled to arrive in 2018, which never happened, and Musk later said that Tesla would “probably” open in South Africa by the end of 2019.
When asked why Tesla still hasn’t launched in South Africa, Musk claimed that the country’s high vehicle import duties were a major concern.
South Africa imposes a 25% duty on all imported cars, with the exception of those shipped from the United Kingdom and European Union, which only receive 18% due to a preferential trade agreement.
All of Tesla’s right-hand-drive cars are built in China.
The 25% duty, along with ad valorem, VAT, and a 10% luxury tax, substantially raises the price of imported cars.
This has proven to be a particularly large headache for electric vehicles, which are usaully more expensive than equivalent internal combustion engine (ICE) models to begin with.
A handful of Tesla models can be seen around South Africa, but these were imported by individuals at great cost.
Buyers have told MyBroadband and TopAuto in the past that South Africa’s taxes can effectively triple the final price tag of an imported car relative to the retail price in its country of origin.
Morocco encouraging local EV adoption
In sharp contrast to South Africa, Morocco has implemented new policies to encourage local manufacturing and EV adoption.
EVs are exempt from the country’s standard VAT rate of 20%, and specific models can benefit from a zero-duty policy – avoiding the standard 10% to 17% import fare.
The end result is that Tesla’s cars in Morocco’s are not much more expensive than the countries where they are built.
The rear-wheel-drive Model 3 costs 389,990 Moroccan Dirhams (R688,524), which isn’t too far off the $38,630 (R635,521) you’d pay for the same car in the United States.
Electric and hybrid car owners have also been exempt from Morocco’s annual road tax since 2017.
Morocco expats who return to the country can even apply for tax rebates of up to 90% if they want to bring back an EV they purchased while living abroad.
On the broader economic front, Morocco is positioning itself as a regional leader for green energy adoption, encouraging local investment in vehicle and battery plants with various policies.
These include special industrial zones, corporate tax holidays, and research and design grants.
This is already starting to pay off, too, as while Morocco’s car sales are still lower than South Africa’s, it is far exceeding our vehicle production output.
It produced over 1 million cars in 2025 (compared to South Africa’s roughly 550,000), making it the new largest vehicle manufacturer on the African continent.
All of these factors help to explain why Tesla opted to launch in Morocco, while its plans for South Africa have stalled.
South Africa offers no consumer incentives for buying EVs, and dragged its feet over the eventual introduction of a 150% tax rebate on new-energy vehicle production.
The lack of consumer support and high import duties mean most automakers are still hesitant to launch their EVS here, as their affordable models would be priced well out of their intended segments.
Consequently, local EV sales are growing at a snail’s pace, while other African countries, such as Morocco and Ethiopia, now have much higher adoption rates.
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