Meghana KandraThree Tesla Model 3 are known to have landed in Mumbai as Tesla India plans to start sales by year-end. And Tesla India hired Porche alumni, Samir Jain for the role of Regional Service Manager.
Elon Musk and India’s Prime Minister Narenda Modi. Image credits- Teslarati
Testing phases
The Tesla Model 3 sent to Tesla India in Mumbai is going to be tested and possibly start sales by year-end. Furthermore, the Indian electric vehicle market has barely begun.
10k followers on the day of Model 3 reaching Indian shores ⚡.
Thank You all. We are as excited as you are for Tesla launch.#TCIN 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/pzDLvE2Qk5
— Tesla Club India® (@TeslaClubIN) June 4, 2021
And the reason behind Tesla entering the market now because they had hefty taxes for imported vehicles. Resulting in costlier electric sedans and other complicated Indian regulations for the company.
This year India set new schemes which encourage electric vehicle imports and investments in the country.
It was back in 2020 Elon Musk hinted that they are going to enter the Indian market. And later things unveiled one by one as the news of hiring Chitra Thomas and Munjal Khurana came out.
Furthermore, by June-July more Tesla cars are set to enter India as the Indian Team prepares for the testing phase. These tests will include crash safety, emissions, and other such automotive metrics.
A little birdie tells me the first of the @Tesla
Model 3 cars are already in the country! Three cars landed in Mumbai this afternoon. More may well be on the way! @TeslaClubIN #Tesla #TeslainIndia— Alisha Sachdev (@Alisha2494) June 4, 2021
Showrooms in India
It is expected that Tesla will have 3-4 showrooms in India’s major metropolitan areas. like Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore. However, the senior executive team will be operating from the Mumbai headquarters.
Tesla India would be going slow as the EV market in the country is in the early stage with 20% EV sales growth in 2020. While the testing process goes on, the team is going to get the required approvals from the Automotive Research Association of India.
India is the second most populated country after China is considered to have more potential. And the country is known to be among the top 5 among the countries to have the highest selling vehicles in the world. Hyundai Motors planned to invest $500 million in the Indian market in 2020.
For now, Tesla India is going to test the waters with its sales. As the demand increases, they will have more showrooms in the coming years. It is also rumored that a Tesla Manufacturing plant would be set up in Bangalore, the silicon valley of India. However, there are no such signs from the Indian team.
Tesla Model 3 is one of the most affordable and most selling Tesla cars. Ideal model to start their sales with, eventually bringing in Model Y and Cybertruck or Tesla Model S Plaid by the time demand increases.
Additionally, Tesla continues to expand its presence globally, as they already have strong demand in China and Europe.