Tesla is looking for showroom space; Tesla vehicles to be sold in India by June
The world’s leading electric car company Tesla is looking for a place to open showrooms for its cars in three cities in India; a news agency has quoted as saying by some sources. The agency has also reported that Tesla has hired a top executive for lobbying and business development prior to a planned entry into India. Manuj Khurana has been part of a government committee headed by the Prime Minister’s Science Advisor on the future of transport.
Local company formed in January, will start selling imported Model 3 sedans by June
Tesla has formed a local company in January this year, through which it can start selling Model 3 sedans by June. By market cap, the world’s largest electric vehicle company is looking for 20,000 to 30,000 square feet of commercial space in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore for showrooms and service centers.
In October, Musk said on Twitter, his company will come to India ‘firm’ in 2021
In October, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter that his company would come to India ‘firm’ in 2021, but he had made such tweets in the past. In such a situation, the search for space for showrooms and the hiring of top executives shows that Tesla is showing a lot of momentum in India. Tesla has hired Manuj Khurana, former executive of Invest India, a government agency that promotes investment in the country, for lobbying.
Global property consultant CBRE Group Inc. looking for showroom space for Tesla
Tesla has tasked global property consultant CBRE Group Inc. to find space for the showroom. CBRE, which has been looking for space for several weeks, is focusing on places where the rich customers are easy to come. Some of the luxury car showrooms in metro cities are spread over an 8,000–10,000 sqft area but most of the showrooms are small. Actually, there is a shortage of expensive real estate properties in Delhi and Mumbai and they are counted among the most expensive cities in the world in terms of property.
Reduced charging infrastructure and heavy import tax will not make Tesla’s path in India
Khurana will keep an eye on Tesla’s entry process in the Indian market but it will not be easy for the company to do business here. In fact, the charging facility for electric vehicles in India is very low, imported cars are heavily taxed and sales of these vehicles are very low. Last year, a total of 2.4 million vehicles were sold in the country, of which only 5,000 were electric vehicles (EV) while 12.5 lakh EVs were sold in China.
However, analysts say that automobile companies cannot ignore this market given the growing population of the rich in India. That too when the government is promoting green vehicles that release less smoke and gas.
Initially, Tesla will import cars, the government’s big offer for local production
Tesla has initially planned to import vehicles, but last month Nitin Gadkari said that if the company promises to make vehicles in India, the government is ready to offer reasonable incentives to keep its production cost lower than in China.