(Bloomberg) -- Tesla Inc. picked a location in the upscale Parque Arauco mall in Santiago to open this month its first store in the country, according to a marketing email sent to clients and replicated on several X accounts. This will also be the carmaker’s first dealership in South America. 

The company registered the name Tesla Chile SpA in September. The unit can carry out activities such as the sale and fabrication of cars and those related to “generation of energy and electricity.” The electric-vehicle maker was also recruiting for positions in the capital Santiago, including for a country manager. Three LinkedIn positions remain open. 

Tesla is joining its biggest EV rival, China’s BYD Co., in Chile. The Chinese firm last year launched its Seal sedan in Santiago as part of a push into Latin America. BYD has plans for a cathode factory in Chile after being granted access to preferential prices for lithium mined by SQM.

Tesla would face the same barriers that other EV sellers have faced in the region. EV sales accounted for only 2.5% of total vehicle sales in the country in the first nine months of the year, according to Chile’s car association.

This story was reported earlier by El Mercurio.

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