There’s been a lot of talk about what route will Tesla take to enter the Indian market. Initially, there were reports that the Elon Musk-led EV company would set up a manufacturing plant in India, but later it was confirmed that the vehicles will be directly imported from Germany. Further reports hinted at Tesla being in discussions with Tata Motors for a potential partnership. Now, Autocar Professional has revealed that Tesla has approached several domestic players, including an Indian and a Japanese company, to explore the possibility of a manufacturing partnership.
Tesla could assemble EVs in India
According to Autocar Professional’s sources, Tesla has begun holding meetings with automobile companies, that have manufacturing facilities in India. The EV maker is weighing out all options, including the possibility of assembling its vehicles at an existing manufacturing plant owned by another company. Both companies will carefully weigh the pros and cons before finalizing the deal. If the agreement goes through, Tesla’s electric vehicle prices will drop significantly, as they will no longer be subject to import tariffs.Â
Challenges for Tesla in india
To ease the high import tariffs, the Indian government has reportedly proposed a new policy for electric vehicles (EVs) that could reduce import tariffs from 110% to 15% for EVs priced above $35,000. This shift would benefit Tesla, as reports suggest the company is exploring the launch of a vehicle priced under Rs 25 lakh in India, but this seems unlikely without the company establishing its own manufacturing facility in India. Scaling operations effectively here could prove challenging without local production. Currently, Tesla’s most affordable offering is the Model 3, priced at around $30,000 (approximately Rs 29.79 lakh). As reported earlier, Tesla will initially import its vehicles from its Berlin plant.
