Tesla advances over Argentina and Uruguay, and Brazil is waiting

Tesla has started to set foot in South America, but car sales are further away than many imagine. In Argentina, the arrival is already official — only focused on energy, not on the sale of cars. In Uruguay, the indications of an operation of its own are multiplying, although there is still no formal announcement or approved models. And, for Brazil, for now, there is no confirmed plan.

The movement took shape on June 16, when the Argentine state-owned company YPF signed a letter of intent with Tesla to explore fast charging networks and energy storage. The agreement was born from a visit by the oil company’s president, Horacio Marín, to the automaker’s Gigafactory in Texas. In practice, Tesla will install chargers at YPF stations — starting with 17 stations in the second half of the year — and is studying building a data center in Patagonia, in Neuquén, with YPF Luz. A Tesla delegation is expected to arrive in the country in July to advance the talks.

The company has also appointed a country manager for Argentina and Uruguay: Joaquín Lizarralde, former commercial director of Kavak. But the import of electric models is not on the table in Argentine lands for now — the declared focus is on energy infrastructure. For analysts, the bet is based on the capillarity of YPF stations in a country where the charging network is still scarce.

Why now?

What motivated the turnaround? Geopolitics and China. Musk wants a concrete presence in the “south of the south” before Chinese brands dominate the region, and he has found fertile ground in the deregulation of the government of Javier Milei, with whom he has met several times. Added to this is a trade agreement between Argentina and the United States signed in February, which could make imports cheaper by up to 40%, and gas from Vaca Muerta, attractive for powering data centers.

In Uruguay, the itinerary is different. Tesla opened a vacancy for general manager in Montevideo, expanded trademark registrations in January and, according to sources in the local sector, plans to open its first store in the country — which concentrates the largest number of units of the brand in Mercosur, all brought by unofficial import. Still, there was no communication and the products were not approved.

Which models? As in the rest of the world, the duo that sustains Tesla is the Model 3 (sedan) and the Model Y (SUV) — precisely those that already circulate in both countries independently. The Cybertruck only arrives through the hands of private importers.

As for prices, there is no official table, because the brand does not sell directly yet. On the black market, Uruguay has the cheapest offer: importer Auto Import, which works with a Chinese partner of Tesla, sells Model 3 and Model Y starting at about $64,900. In Argentina, importing on your own makes everything more expensive — the Model 3 goes from US$ 75 thousand to US$ 110 thousand and the Model Y, from US$ 85 thousand to US$ 110 thousand, depending on the configuration.

The entry into the Southern Cone follows an already open trail: Tesla officially settled in Chile in 2024 and in Colombia in 2025. Brazil, the largest market in the region, was left out of this round and is not even in the purview of the new country manager. Here, cars continue to arrive through independent importers, without an official after-sales network — a Model 3 exceeds R$ 650 thousand after taxes and freight, and it is estimated that there are only about 100 Teslas running in the country.