The rumors were going from the year 2016 about Tesla’s entry into the Indian market but finally, the wait is over for Indian Customers. As per the Indian Express report, “Tesla will enter India in ‘early 2021′”, Nitin Gadkari, Indian Transport Minister said. But he did not confirm the arrival month. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, in a reply to one of the tweets confirms that Not in January but yes it is coming to India in 2021.
Earlier there was speculation that with its Indian operations, Tesla will establish its assembling and manufacturing units as well in India but this issue is also clarified by the transport Minister. He said that first Tesla will start the sale of its electric car and on the basis of Indian market response, they will think about the establishment of those units in India.
As stated earlier, Tesla had plans to hit the Indian market in 2016 but Foreign Direct Investment(FDI) policies and lack of proper infrastructure forced Tesla to think over again. And in the end, Tesla took another 4 years in deciding about Indian operations.
Tesla, a USA based company, deals in electric vehicles and sustainable energy. In recent years, the company became very popular for its innovative designs and latest technology products. Riding on the success of Tesla, CEO Elon Musk has become the second wealthiest person in the world.
It is expected that Tesla will introduce its affordable electric car Model 3 in India. Though the specification of the Indian variant of Model 3 is not known, the US variant of Model 3 has 3 powertrain options: Standard Range Plus, long range, and performance version. Standard plus claims to cover 263 miles in a single electric charge while Long range can cover 353 miles in a single electric charge. Performance version can go up to 315 miles on a full charge. Initially, Tesla may offer a standard and long range version of Model 3 in India. Model 3 features like a 15-inch touchscreen, 12 way automatically adjustable front seats, wireless charging pads, and an advanced sound system make it more popular among the masses.
But still, there is no confirmation about the Model 3 features for India. At the end of the first quarter of 2020, Model 3 has become the best selling electric car in the world.
Tesla also confirmed that the Indian operations of the company will be without any dealerships. The customers will directly place the order online through Tesla owned website and the car will also be directly delivered to the client. Tesla will import cars as Completely Built Units (CBU). Car booking is expected to start in the first quarter of 2020 and the delivery is expected by end of the second quarter of 2020. The car price may be in the range of Rs 55-60 Lakhs.
