Tesla released her first exhibition room in India on Tuesday, marking her entry into the most populous country in the world, since the Elon Musk electric vehicle company looks for new customers in the midst of sunk sales in the United States and Europe.
The store opened its doors to select visitors after its inauguration by the Prime Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, in the financial capital of India, Mumbai.
Tesla has pointed out for years his interest in India, but has been delayed due to the country’s pronounced tariffs in electric vehicles.
Musk, who once described India as “more promise than any large country,” has also criticized its import tariffs, calling them among the “highest in the world.”
Nueva Delhi has offered to reduce import taxes in electric vehicles for global car manufacturers only if they promise to invest hundreds of millions of dollars and make cars locally.
Tesla has not yet announced plans to establish a plant in India.
For now, according to local media reports, the company will probably sell cars imported from China, with projected deliveries to start at the end of August.
Its model variants and start from a road price of around $ 70,000 in India, according to its website, compared to an American price of $ 37,490 after a federal tax credit of $ 7,500.
The debut of India of Tesla arrives at a critical moment for the company, which is seeing that demand decreases for its cars in countries around the world.
The recent drop in Tesla sales partly reflects the highly competitive nature of the EV market, which the company once dominated, but now also presents Byd and other low -cost Chinese players.
While Tesla seeks to take advantage of the third largest car market in the world, experts say that it is unlikely to see large volumes in the short term due to the nascent nature of the EV industry of India and the high price of its vehicles.
The EV market of India is rapidly growing, but remains small, since car manufacturers report sales of around 100,000 vehicles in 2024 or less than three percent of total car sales.
Soumen Mandal, a senior analyst in the counterpoint, said that the high price probably puts it on the price range of most Indian clients and see him compete against offers of luxury car manufacturers.
“We do not expect Tesla to play the volume game immediately given the price,” Mandal told AFP.
“We project 500-700 units sold in the first months and then that to decrease to 200-300 (per month).”
Currently, India is negotiating a commercial agreement with the United States, including a possible reduction in tariffs in cars.
In February, Musk held an individual meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington.
