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Tesla To Open Its First Showroom In India On This Date
Tesla has formally set July 15 as the launch date for its first Indian showroom, claims a new report by Reuters. Tesla's Mumbai store will open in Bandra Kurla Complex, the city's upscale business district.
The 15th July inauguration of Tesla's first showroomin India will also mark the official arrival of Elon Musk's electric-vehicle maker into India's auto market after years of speculation and multiple talks between the world's richest person and Indian government officials, including PM Modi.
Model Y Leads the Charge in India
Commercially available import records have confirmed that Tesla's India debut will revolve around its popular Model Y crossover. The first Tesla vehicles arriving in Mumbai are Model Y rear-wheel-drive SUVs built at Tesla's Shanghai plant. In fact, five Model Y RWD units were shipped to Mumbai recently, each valued at about ₹27.7 lakhs(roughly $32,000) before taxes along with a long-range model, priced at ₹39.5 lakh ($46,000).
These imported Model Ys are expected to showcase Tesla's high-tech features - giant touchscreen, long electric range and Autopilot assist - to Indian buyers for the first time. Along with the five Model Ys, Tesla has also imported chargers and accessories for its cars, which takes that pre-tax import bill to around $1 million
However, India's heavy import duties will make these EVs expensive. Under current rules, fully built electric cars face a 70% tariff in India (plus extra fees on cars below $40,000). That means the base Model Ys could incur more than ₹21 lakh in import tax alone.
We expect these base Tesla Model Ys to cost well above ₹40 lakh (around $60,000) in India after taxes. However, this expensive pricing is something that Tesla's Indian customers will have to live with as the American firm is currently not exploring local production in India.
Sales Staff and Showroom Plans
To prepare for its launch, Tesla has been staffing up in India. The company advertised roughly 30 positions in India this year and reports say it has hired for several of those roles, including store managers, salespeople and service technicians.
We also expect a second Tesla showroom to follow soon in the Delhi-NCR region, giving customers in the nation's capital a chance to see the American electric cars.
No Local Factory (For Now)
India's government has courted Tesla with incentives, including a new EV policy that some say was tailor-made to bring the American firm to India. However, last month, Heavy Industries Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy told reporters that Tesla has shown no inclination to build car factories in India.
In other words, Tesla's initial India strategy is straightforward: sell imported cars through showrooms. And with US President Donald Trump, who labelled the idea of a Tesla factory in India as "unfair" to the US, watching and waiting to dump tarrifs on any country that taxes American firms, chances of a Tesla production EV facility in India still seem like a distant dream.
DriveSpark Thinks!
For Indian EV enthusiasts, the big news is that Tesla's slick electric SUVs will finally be on display in person and available to purchase after years of speculation and intrigue.
How Tesla will perform in India's auto market with its import-only policy is something that only time will tell. We just hope that Tesla decides to stay and fight it out and not ditch India when the going gets tough, like other American marques have done in the past.
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