Tesla fans in Australia and several other Asia-Pacific countries that undecided on whether to order a Model S or Model X have missed their opportunity, at least for now. According to an update to the Design Studio, the automaker has shut down orders for their flagship vehicles in the region, with no timetable for when they will return.
The order shut down started late last week, first in Australia. Instead of Tesla’s website showing the typical ‘Custom Order’ button, that had instead been replaced by the typical ‘Get Updates’ button when an item is not available for purchase in the selected country, as spotted by The Driven. Clicking on the button will simply allow the customer to enter their email address to receive future product updates.
According to the publication, several Model S and Model X reservation holders who placed their orders, prior to the change (some as far back as 18 months ago) have not received an update on the status of their orders in several months, and didn’t receive one when the order page changed.
The change wasn’t limited to Australia however, as Tesla is also no longer taking orders for the Model S/X in New Zealand, Thailand, and Singapore, as reported by Reuters. There has been no changes to the available of any of the Model 3 and Model Y variants in any of these countries.
Tesla has not provided an explanation for why orders for the Model S/X were halted in these countries. It does not appear to be the case however that they will never offer them for sale again as customers who had already placed an order have not been informed that their reservations have been cancelled and their deposits returned. One theory for the holdup is that since Tesla started production of the refresh Model S/X back in 2021, they have yet to produce a right-hand drive (RHD) version of their flagship vehicles. This theory seems the most plausible as Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, and Singapore are all RHD markets.
Another indication that orders will return is that Tesla has been spotted testing the Model S in Australia earlier this year, although that was a left-hand drive (LHD) vehicle.
Refreshed Tesla Model S spotted in Australia for the first time
