Tesla Motors Put India Launch Plan On Hold Amid Multiple Hurdles | V3Cars

31 May 2022
By Amit Saraswat
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From forming a management team to searching land for dealerships in Tier-I cities, the Indian arm of Tesla Motors have been working tirelessly to bring Tesla electric cars to our shores. However, after failing to convince the Indian government for reduced import tariffs, Tesla Motors have put their India launch plans on hold for the moment.

Tesla boss Elon Musk has now set a new condition before rolling out operations in the country.

Replying to a user on Twitter, Elon Musk said, “Tesla will not put a manufacturing plant in any location where we are not allowed to sell and service cars”. Elon also stated that if Tesla is able to succeed with imported vehicles, then a factory in India is quite likely.

Tesla had planned to import electric vehicles to India directly from United States and China at lower tariffs. However, the Indian government has stood firm on its decision to promote local manufacturing. The 2022 Union Budget did not contain any clause regarding lower tariffs for imported electric vehicles. Hence, Tesla Motors want to understand the Indian market before investing in local manufacturing.

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Importing electric vehicles without any cut downs on tariffs will increase the cost of Tesla cars exponentially, leaving little to no scope for success in the country. However, it is worth mentioning that other carmakers like Mercedes-Benz and Audi are selling their respective electric vehicles via the CBU route and have found success in the country. Mercedes-Benz have also confirmed their plans to locally assemble the flagship EQS sedan at their plant in Chakan.

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Tesla Motors formed their Indian arm by setting up their headquarters in Hyderabad in 2021. Since the formation, Tesla India have actively been in talks with the Indian government for lower tariff on direct imports but the talks have led to nowhere. As per rumours, Tesla India have halted their search for dealership locations and the team has been given different global regions to work on. As of today, there is no active development when it comes to Indian operations of Tesla Motors.

Also Read: Tata To Buy Ford’s Manufacturing Facility In Gujarat | V3Cars

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amit Saraswat

Born and brought up in Agra, he grew up reading magazines more than textbooks. With a keen interest in cars, he decided to make his future in automotive journalism and is currently helping in content at V3Cars.

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1 Comments

M Manuj Walia says:

October 29 2022 23:41:11

What I think that why the government is charging so much road tax in vehicle even when we are paying the toll tax. It must be cut fown to 1 to 5 percent or the personal cars must be free from toll tax.