Elon Musk’s Tesla marks formal India entry with Mumbai launch event
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Grappling with excess manufacturing capacity at its other factories and falling sales, Tesla has pivoted to selling imported cars in India.
PHOTO: REUTERS
MUMBAI – Tesla will open its first India showroom in Mumbai on July 15, having imported US$1 million (S$1.3 million) worth of cars and merchandise, marking its entry into the world’s third-largest car market despite CEO Elon Musk’s complaints about high import tariffs.
Grappling with excess manufacturing capacity at its other factories and falling sales, Tesla has pivoted to selling imported cars in India on which it will need to pay about 70 per cent import duty and other levies.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has for years wooed Tesla, including coming up with a new policy to attract the carmaker to build its electric vehicles (EVs) locally.
In 2024, Mr Musk had planned to visit India, where he was expected to announce an investment of US$2 billion to US$3 billion, including in local EV manufacturing. But he cancelled the trip at the last moment.
Tesla has conveyed that it is not interested in manufacturing in India at the moment.
US President Donald Trump has said that if Tesla were to build a factory in India to circumvent that country’s tariffs, it would be unfair to the US.
Tesla has hired for several of the three dozen positions it advertised in India earlier in 2025, bringing on board store managers and sales and service executives. It is looking for supply chain engineers and vehicle operators for its autopilot ambitions.
In an invitation to the media on July 11, the carmaker said the event was the “launch of Tesla in India through the opening of the Tesla experience centre at Bandra Kurla Complex”, located in the city’s leading commercial business district.
Commercially available Customs records from January to June 2025 showed Tesla imported vehicles, chargers and accessories into India worth close to US$1 million, mainly from China and the United States.
The vehicles included six of Tesla’s best-selling Model Y at a shipment value of US$32,500 each for five cars, and US$46,000 for the long-range version, as well as several Superchargers. REUTERS
