Hyperdrive
For Elon Musk, Success is Proving Elusive in Japan’s Car Market
- Lack of white-glove treatment keeps Tesla lagging in Japan
- Musk once predicted country would be No. 2, behind only U.S.
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For all of Elon Musk’s domination of the burgeoning electric-vehicle business, Tesla Inc. is struggling to get traction in Japan, a market he put on a pedestal early in the automaker’s early days.
The day after taking the electric-car maker public in June 2010, the first Roadster sports cars shipped to Asia weren’t destined for Shanghai -- they went to Yokohama. Four years later, the chief executive officer handed over the first Model S sedans during a splashy ceremony on the 52nd floor of a Tokyo tower.