Tesla in India: Too little, too late?

Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. Ayaan Kartik 4 min Read 25 Aug 2025, 05:30 am. His opponents in the Premium EV segment note that the Indian market has changed drastically since 2020 when Tesla first started in India. (Bloomberg) Summary The world’s second largest EV manufacturer faces tempered consumer centers around US brands following the recent US administration movements to set up higher rates on India. New -delhi: Is it too little, too late for Tesla in India? The Elon Musk-Lied Electric Vehicle (EV) giant’s tranquil entry into the country by two showrooms in Delhi and Mumbai over the past month’s emergence of hype, and with no local senior leader not exacerbated by geopolitical friction between India and the US, and its non-involved approach to local manufacturing. The opponents in the Premium EV segment note that the Indian market has changed drastically since 2020 when Tesla first started in India. “If it was five years ago, I would have agreed that consumers would move to Tesla, but I think electric cars have moved far over the past five years,” said Santosh Iyer, managing director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India. Iyer noted that there are several locally manufactured options available for EVs from Indian and foreign OEMs, which was not the case five years ago, suggesting that car manufacturers are much better willing to handle competition. “I think the time will see if the timing was right or that it was too late,” Iyer said. In these five years, Mercedes-Benz introduced six EVs such as EQA and EQS SUVs, and BMW also brought in six SUVs such as the I7, I5 and IX. Other luxury brands that EVs launched in India include Audi (E-Tron) and BYD (Sealion 7, Atto 3 and Seal). The Vietnamese brand Vinfast, which entered India in July – about the same time as Tesla, added the competition and started rolling cars from his Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu plant,. It also increases his presence of the trader in the country. Furthermore, experts said the world’s second largest EV manufacturer is facing tempered consumer sentiments around US brands following the recent movements of the US administration to set up higher rates on India. “The market is driven a lot by sentiments and the environment is not as favorable as before for Tesla in India,” says Amit Kaushik, managing director of car analysis firm Urban Science India. A request for comments from Tesla remained unanswered until per -time. No local supply chain Tesla has not helped its case by not committing to compiling its products in India locally, despite repeated government attempts to export the red carpet. Last April, Musk canceled his scheduled journey to India and went to China instead. During this trip, Tesla is expected to announce an investment to establish a local manufacturing plant in India. Certainly, Vinfast, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have all set up mounting operations in India to localize their supply chains. Although Vinfast has set up a new plant, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have compiled conventional luxury cars in India in their plants in Chennai and Pune since 2007 and 1995, and have added EVs lately. Policy support that refuted the policy environment was also favorable to Tesla earlier, with the government last year launching the scheme to promote the manufacture of electric passenger cars in India – called informally as ‘Tesla policy’ – to help car manufacturers initially set cars at a reduced tariff with a condition. However, the company never expressed a clear intention to participate in this. While the notice of the scheme lasts more than a year, as the government negotiated a free trade agreement with the US, Tesla still did not make its plans on the composition in India. Heavy industries minister, HD Kumaraswamy, noted in June that Tesla does not yet want to manufacture in India. “Tesla just wants to open showrooms and sell imported cars,” he said during a media briefing. No local leader, a senior executive at another luxury OEM adopting Tesla, noted that the company has not yet invested in brand building in the country and does not have senior local leadership, which will hamper the attempt to expand the presence in the country. ‘It rely on his global image to drive sales in the country. I am not very sure if the approach will work, as the Indian market is now far too competitive, ‘the executive said and requested not to be mentioned. For the time being, the world’s second largest EV manufacturer has kept its cards near its chest by not expanding the details of the purpose of expanding its offers in India. The rental strategy of the business so far has been limited to talent to competitors such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz and MG Motor India. With no local manufacturing, limited number of showrooms and service centers, and no senior management to drive its strategy in the country, it appears that experts appear that Tesla is following a weapons-length approach to the Indian market. The low-key launches in the two cities were in contrast to other car brands, which are large when new products are introduced. Tesla’s Model Y, priced between £ 59 Lakh and £ 67 Lakh in the Indian market, also limited its automatic management features due to lack of regulatory approval. The company offers a limited management system in India, which is comparable to what is offered by other car manufacturers in terms of technology. The company’s cars in India were priced higher compared to its world average due to higher rates on imported cars and the company’s reluctance to start any local assembly operations. Catch all the car news and updates on live currency. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates and live business news. More Topics #Auto Read Next Story