[volkman10]

Tesla lobbies India for sharply lower import taxes on electric vehicles:

Other luxury automakers in India have also lobbied the government in the past to lower taxes on imported cars but have had little success due to opposition from rivals with domestic operations.

Its pitch, however, is likely to face resistance from current administration which has championed high import taxes for many industries in a bid to boost local manufacturing.

Tesla, which aims to begin sales in India this year, said in a letter to ministries and the country's leading think-tank that slashing federal taxes on imports of fully assembled electric cars to 40% would be more appropriate

That compares with current rates of 60% for cars priced below $40,000 and 100% for those above $40,000.

The argument is that at 40% import duty, electric cars can become more affordable but the threshold is still high enough to compel companies to manufacture locally if demand picks up

While lower duties would give Tesla a better chance to test the market, its plan to begin sales in India does not hinge on a change in government policy.


Link

[volkman10]

TESLA is likely to set up a factory in India if successful with imported vehicles

the company wrote to Indian ministries seeking a big reduction in import duties on electric vehicles

import duties are the highest in the world by far of any large country

Link

[volkman10]

Tesla is not interested in India’s PLI incentive schemes, wants to sell imported cars before making cars in India .

Tesla will not commit to manufacturing in India until it can sell enough imported vehicles in the country to warrant setting up a facility in the country.

But it does not make financial sense for them to do so when India adds duties of as much as 100% on cars worth more than $40,000.

And so the stalemate continues as neither side( Tesla and Govt.) appears willing to budge on their respective positions.

More so Tesla seem very busy and even not working on the $25,000 electric car it promised by 2023.


Link

[shancz]

Tesla's stance makes financial sense too and the government isn't going to make concessions for one manufacturer whoever they are.

Both are right in their places and Tesla's plans are only going to work out if they plan to use India as a manufacturing base.
Since that's not their plan it's not going to work out.

[kosjam]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Tesla is not interested in India’s PLI incentive schemes, wants to sell imported cars before making cars in India .

And so the stalemate continues as neither side( Tesla and Govt.) appears willing to budge on their respective positions.

More so Tesla seem very busy and even not working on the $25,000 electric car it promised by 2023.

Basically they are selling very well in the higher brackets which disincentivizes the designing of a cheaper car. As they do not have any timelines for a cheaper car, they are not interested in getting into India, because they know that even a model 3 made in india will probably cost way higher than the median EV of comparable range, ensuring quite a lot of losses. This they cannot justify to their investors, and hence, the reluctance to get into India. But to put a positive spin in their favour and at the same time portraying the GoI as a negative influence, Tesla is playing spoilsport and pretending that GoI is bullying them into not coming in...

[.sushilkumar]

Given the stalemate, chances of Tesla coming into here seems remote at the moment, More so given the current Geo political tension with china.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india...686831688.html

"I have told Tesla that don't sell electric cars in India which your company has manufactured in China. You should manufacture electric cars in India, and also export cars from India," he said, adding Tesla had been assured of all necessary support from the Indian government.

[ValarMorghulis]

I think this stalemate is OK.

Tesla wants to sell cars in India getting a preferential treatment and GoI is not interested in subsidizing the purchases of the 0.1%.

So Tesla is well within its rights to not setup a manufacturing plant here.

[volkman10]

Govt tries to woo Tesla again. Tesla yet to respond.

Centre wants Tesla to buy Rs 3,754 crore of local auto parts for import tax cuts.

Tesla Inc. would need to commit to sourcing at least $500 million (Rs 3,754 crore) of auto components from India for the electric carmaker’s request for an import tax cut on its vehicles to be considered

While it could start at a lower base, Tesla would need to agree to ramp up Indian parts purchases by around 10 per cent to 15 per cent a year until a satisfactory level was achieved,

The government has said it is keen for the EV pioneer to make cars in the country, but appears to be using their interest to try and gain benefits for the nascent local electric car industry.

To progress on its tax-cut bid, Tesla must approach the government with a component-sourcing plan that’s proportional to its car sales forecast in India,

It should also export made-in-India components to China if it plans to import cars from there

Tesla says it wants to test the waters by selling imported cars first, and to make that viable, levies as high as 100 per cent would need to be lowered.

Link

[Mortis]

Why would Tesla invest a boatload of money in setting up a factory in India when they don't need to have to ?

[DicKy]

Usually I would argue for lowering import taxes, but in this case. Nope.

Tesla is using its 'media' popularity to arm twist India to get preferential treatment. No need. I may sound naive, but it is like shifting oil dependency from GCC nations to China.

The Nexon EV isn't getting that much of subsidy/tax cuts so that people are buying it for tax benefits alone. But it is selling. Making people open to the idea of BEVs and IMHO even helping the sales of the MG ZS EV and Hyundai Kona.

Ofcourse we are waaaayy behind China in BEVs and may never catch up. But we are in the right direction. The Nexon right now uses imported Chinese motor and batteries ( I maybe wrong ) because it is the only feasible way. But the Toshiba-Denso-Suzuki plant will ensure that the upcoming Toyota-Maruti BEVs would have in-house battery and motors, even if some components and tech come from China. Slow steps, but sure ones.

So, if fancy pansy Tesla wants to sell imported cars in India, either Made in burgerland or noodlesland, pay the whole tax and customs like everyone else.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by DicKy

---

So, if fancy pansy Tesla wants to sell imported cars in India, either Made in burgerland or noodlesland, pay the whole tax and customs like everyone else.

It looks so Tesla is looking at marketing the Model 3 and above models as fully imported and it makes sense as they want to test market the same as volumes are not bound to be large. ( may be 2- 3 years).

They will look at local assembly only when their small car project is ready which is now deferred with the new date not revealed ( not in their priority plan)

Until then Tesla might skip India for the time being!

[volkman10]

While Tesla's India plans are in limbo, Tesla ramps up its plans in China.

Tesla plans to start work on a new plant in Shanghai as soon as next month as part of a plan to more than double production capacity in China to meet growing demand for its cars in the country and export markets.


Link

[kosjam]

Originally Posted by volkman10

While Tesla's India plans are in limbo, Tesla ramps up its plans in China.
Tesla plans to start work on a new plant in Shanghai as soon as next month as part of a plan to more than double production capacity in China to meet growing demand for its cars in the country and export markets.

While I have been a vocal critic of Tesla earlier on this thread and elsewhere too, I now believe we have lost a major opportunity with this new development. I am not sure if our government has the PLI scheme linked even to the automotive sector or not, but in case it wasn't, it should think about opening up the sector to the PLI scheme for high technology companies like Tesla.

Had Tesla opened its next Gigafactory in India, even if they would have shipped out most of the cars produced, the boost to the ancillary industry would have in turn given a shot in the arm to the fledging Indian EV industry.

A major opportunity lost.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by kosjam

While I have been a vocal critic of Tesla earlier on this thread and elsewhere too, I now believe we have lost a major opportunity with this new development. I am not sure if our government has the PLI scheme linked even to the automotive sector or not,--

Tesla did not apply for India’s PLI incentive schemes.

Link

[kosjam]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Tesla did not apply for India’s PLI incentive schemes.

Link

I stand corrected.
But I still would debate, that India should have pushed harder behind the scenes, after all, it would have been a completely new ecosystem that was to be setup here, from the battery manufacturing to motors and other components.

Even with established EV credentials and a Gigafactory already up and running, China still rolled out the red carpet to Tesla with Shanghai supporting the expansion of the Gigafactory 3. They did this with an eye towards India, knowing fully well that India would have become a competitor had the next Gigafactory opened here.