Tesla Motors on Monday called Korea an “exciting” market, but would not confirm whether it would be opening its next store here.

Jeff Evanson, vice president of investor relations at the U.S.-based firm, told The Korea Herald that while he could not say if Korea is a low-priority market, Tesla simply cannot meet the market demand, saying it faces a supply constraint where it is already selling.

“Certainly we do see Korea as an exciting market, but we can’t make any announcement on our next store,” Evanson said at Tesla’s first investor relations session in Korea held in Yeouido.

The visit comes after Tesla stocks edged up 20 percent over the past month.

Market watchers said for Korea, Tesla’s interest seemed to be not in selling cars, but in receiving investment.

“They don’t seem to have plans to sell cars here,” said Shin Jung-gwan, a senior analyst at KB Securities.

Evanson on Monday confirmed that he met with high-ranking officials at the National Pension Service, a potential investor.

Shin expressed skepticism about the state-run agency taking interest in Tesla, citing the poor stock records and the fact that Tesla was continuously losing money.

Evanson also said he had not met Environment Ministry officials, further indicating there had been no discussion regarding a car launch here.

Next year, Tesla expects to deliver up to 21,500 cars. Some of those cars will go to Shanghai, where Tesla will open a new store this year.

“We have got to be busy in Asia,” Evanson said.

Evanson added that the company would continue to work with its partners on cell supply agreements.

“We are truly in discussions with other cell suppliers, including Samsung SDI and LG Chem. It does take several years to become qualified cell suppliers for Tesla,” he said, confirming that Tesla is still in talks despite having recently signed an agreement with long-standing partner Panasonic.

Last month, Tesla had announced its decision to expand its automotive-grade lithium-ion battery cell orders from the Japanese brand ― Panasonic will supply nearly 2 billion cells over the next four years.

Tesla’s visit this week sparked speculation that the company is interested in investing here, a move that would mark an about-face from its earlier statements when it said it had “no interest” in Korea.

In Asia, Tesla currently operates in Japan and Hong Kong, with Japan serving as its Asian headquarters.

Recently, Tesla was criticized for possible safety violations after a number of its workers were burned during factory operations.

Some of the Model S sedans also came under criticism for catching fire following collisions. Tesla’s chief executive officer Elon Musk, however, said the company would not be recalling the cars.

For Korea, Tesla may be yet another carmaker to supply electric car batteries to. Samsung SDI and LG Chem both are currently still in talks on supply.

By Kim Ji-hyun and Lee Ji-yoon

(jemmie@heraldcorp.com)

(jylee@heraldcorp.com)