[volkman10]

Taking a cue from global tech giants like Apple Inc, Tesla Motors is also mulling to ship in a couple of models from its upcoming facility in Shanghai, China to India.

Although plans remain sketchy at the moment as the first batch of models may still be imported from its mother plant in the US , industry observers reckon that prohibitive logistics costs, exorbitant taxes and longer delivery schedules may propel one of the world's most innovative car maker to ship in Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV to India by 2021-22.

This move will be a key strategy for Tesla in China as the upcoming facility is specifically tasked to produce affordable versions of the Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV for the Asian market including India. While the first few quarters will be dedicated to the domestic market, a few batch of Right-hand drive models may eventually be exported later to neighbouring countries, including India. However, the company is yet to take a final call on it as importing a CBU from China to India has its own set of challenges

The Model 3 would be the ideal one till they figure out cheaper models than that. While it was touted as the $35,000 (Rs 25 lakh) Tesla, it has ended up more like the US$ 60k Tesla. So expect Indian prices to be around Rs One Crore. At that price, and because the product is an EV, I expect volumes to be low so Tesla may end up tying up with a dealer franchise

Link

[GTO]

This isn't the way Tesla should think of entering India as it'll end up as just another overpriced CBU. Tesla has surprisingly good brand recognition among the elite here and if & when it's planning an India entry, it should do so via the CKD route (which is also quite simple). I have a feeling that Tesla would be able to give the Germans a run for their money here & easily get 20% or so market-share in the segments it competes in.

[Sebring]

Why would the 'well-heeled' in India, opt for Tesla is beyond me. The car costs a bomb, and is not niggle free. On top of it are the charging hassles. The only positive is the green cred it passes on to the user, so maybe a few celebs could get one. Tesla knows this only too well, and will test the market before jumping headlong in. We are ages away from 'full-on' adoption.

[saisailendra]

I have noticed that there is almost always a difference in the quality of products manufactured in the China and the US. I don't think it will be any different in case of Tesla, no matter how stringent their QC processes are.

Keeping the quality aside, before they introduce the product here, they tell news like these to indicate to the people what they are doing to make the car affordable. But in realty we end up paying much more. I agree we pay taxes way more than in other countries but I also think the manufacturer has an equal role in hiking prices way more than what the cars are worth.

At these prices, given the uncertain reliability (On Indian Roads) and safety, will an Average Car Buyer choose this over other well established (in India) brands ?

[Harshal.Bhosale]

Originally Posted by Sebring

Why would the 'well-heeled' in India, opt for Tesla is beyond me. The car costs a bomb, and is not niggle free. On top of it are the charging hassles. The only positive is the green cred it passes on to the user, so maybe a few celebs could get one. Tesla knows this only too well, and will test the market before jumping headlong in. We are ages away from 'full-on' adoption.

The well-heeled elite would in fact be the most likely to be able to justify the cost of purchasing it, because they are the ones who own a bungalow, or an apartment in a posh society - both of which will allow some manner of infrastructure modification to fit a high-amperage charging plug-point. Coming from an owner, it is very nearly niggle-free, but that's a subjective topic (which issues bother a certain individual etc). Yes there is no charging infrastructure in India, for when a Tesla owner would want to travel more than 500 kms one-way, but looking at the "well-heeled" population like you said, how many would travel in their own car that far? And how many times in a year? For 90% of their usage (wild approximation here), a Tesla would make a lot of sense compared to the other comparable luxury vehicles (Model 3 vs BMW 3 / Merc C-Class / Audi A4, Model S vs BMW 7 / Merc S-Class / Audi A8, and Model X vs .. you get the drift). Although in terms of pure "luxury", Teslas suck. That's again fairly subjective, but most of what constitutes luxury (choice of opulent materials, bling, dashes of chrome, etc) is absent in a Tesla.

[Sebring]

I agree that they are likely to be early adopters and in few cases, would. But the mentality is that, as long as fossil fuel continues to be sold and they're able to buy/afford it, they wont shift. Our Indian rich are the 'spoilt lot'.

Originally Posted by Harshal.Bhosale

The well-heeled elite would in fact be the most likely to be able to justify the cost of purchasing it, because they are the ones who own a bungalow, or an apartment in a posh society - both of which will allow some manner of infrastructure modification to fit a high-amperage charging plug-point. Although in terms of pure "luxury", Teslas suck. That's again fairly subjective, but most of what constitutes luxury (choice of opulent materials, bling, dashes of chrome, etc) is absent in a Tesla.

[Harshal.Bhosale]

Originally Posted by saisailendra

I have noticed that there is almost always a difference in the quality of products manufactured in the China and the US. I don't think it will be any different in case of Tesla, no matter how stringent their QC processes are.

Keeping the quality aside, before they introduce the product here, they tell news like these to indicate to the people what they are doing to make the car affordable. But in realty we end up paying much more. I agree we pay taxes way more than in other countries but I also think the manufacturer has an equal role in hiking prices way more than what the cars are worth.

At these prices, given the uncertain reliability (On Indian Roads) and safety, will an Average Car Buyer choose this over other well established (in India) brands ?

While I agree with you in general about products made in the US vs Made in China, I couldn't help but laugh at the line "no matter how stringent their QC processes are"! At this point, Tesla's QC is so bad by American standards that I am looking forward to the Chinese built cars for having better build quality. It's not as bad as some Indian manufacturers (think Mahindra, Royal Enfield etc) but it is definitely not what I'd call a "stringent QC process" by any means.

Regarding the pricing aspect though, I think it would be hard for Tesla to bring down the price of any of their cars - they are a growing manufacturer with no huge cash reserves and lot of uncertainty looming over them - they simply cannot afford to lose any profit margins at least for a few years, or else the company would go bankrupt and we'd get no more Teslas, forget cheap Teslas. Cost optimization is better left to the Volkswagens and the Toyotas of the world, they have the precise manufacturing expertise and the advantage of huge volumes of sales backed by loads of temporary capital infusion (if only they were faster to market with their EVs).

And you're right, an average Indian buyer won't choose a Tesla ever, not until India's mean annual income per capita rises to the $40000+ mark seen in western/developed countries.


India's mass-market EVs will have to be designed in India by Indians with an Indian problem-solving mindset, in order to be priced competitively and achieve mass adoption.

Here's a snap of the latest per capita income figures by country (link):

[sarathlal]

Wont it be better for Tesla to set up a plant in India and do local build?
If not full fledged assembly lines, they can start utilizing the space for manufacturing parts and export, perform CKD assembly sort of things etc.

Even if the selling volume might be low initially, the infra cost will be an actual investment, compared to the 'thrown away' money in the form of CBU taxes.

Tesla is one company that need a long term goal in India than any other.

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by sarathlal

Wont it be better for Tesla to set up a plant in India and do local build?
If not full fledged assembly lines, they can start utilizing the space for manufacturing parts and export, perform CKD assembly sort of things etc.

Yes, it would be better than CBU for sure! Shouldn't electric cars be slightly easier to assemble as there are less moving parts? If companies like BMW could assemble their tech loaded cars here, don't see the reason for Tesla to not opt for this route.

[BoneCollector]

A Chinese journalist has apparently compared US built Model 3 with Chinese made one and says that Chinese version is better.

https://insideevs.com/news/381527/ch...than-american/

Although I'll take this report with a pinch of salt. He has not said much about the bigger things.

[volkman10]

Tesla to export China-made Model 3 vehicles to Europe and Asian markets.

U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc said on Monday it would start exporting China-made Model 3 cars to more than 10 European countries this month.

Tesla, which started delivering vehicles made from its Shanghai factory in December, will export China-made cars in October to countries including Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland.

The electric vehicle maker, which sold more than 11,000 Model 3 cars last month in China, the world’s biggest auto market, is also building new car manufacturing capacity in Shanghai to make its Model Y sport-utility vehicles.

Link

[volkman10]

Camouflaged Tesla Model 3 spied testing in India. Launch is expected in Q1 2022.

All models of Tesla will be brought to the country as Completely Built Units (CBU) from China.

Depending upon the response to Model 3, the company would then take a call on local assembly and manufacturing of its electric cars in India.

Sales of Model 3 will be taken care of by the company via digital retailing.




Link (Tesla to start testing the Model 3 in India!)

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Harshal.Bhosale

Here's a snap of the latest per capita income figures by country (link):
Attachment 1933856

Average gross income is not a very good measure to compare disposable income.

More relevant would be mediaan nett income per head and per family. Even that comes with many challenges to compare one country to the next, but is a lot better than gross average per head.


Jeroen

[officer416]

People are having very high hopes from Tesla in India, but the way I see things it won't be as big of a success as an Indian electric car manufacturer. One person mentioned that Indian median income should be $40000 for them to buy a Tesla, well that's not true. People who earn $40000 in the West don't have a chauffer hired, while in India people making less than that have a chauffer.

Secondly even if Model 3 is priced at 50 lacs, the only people buying it will be enthusiasts, the rear seat comfort of Model 3 and Model S is really bad with high floor height and the stiff suspension makes it worse on Model 3. No way I am putting my parents in the back seat for a long trip in a Model 3. It's best for kids in the child seat.

Also it has to be seen if Tesla is able to sell cars directly to consumers without any resistance from FADA or any dealers associations. I mean they still can't sell cars to consumers directly in Texas and other states.

[TrackDay]

This will be a very interesting space. From whatever we have read/heard/seen the Teslas are not that luxurious when compared to the other luxury car makers. But they do have that 'X' factor when it comes to technology. In urban circles like the big metro cities, a multi car luxury garage will definitely have one of these. The charge range is plenty and more than enough to do duty within the city. Even if the owner is travelling long distance, chances are he/she will be staying at a reasonable good hotel. And they have started providing options for charging too. Just like with the advent of internet when Wi-Fi was offered as a feature, EV charging options too will be highlighted by the bigger hotels.

The launch prices will have to be interesting though. Even though the rich have not cut down on their spending, they are simply not going to buy something that does not resonate with them. Tesla will have to find a way to penetrate into the herd mentality of the rich, just how how Audi did in the past and how Range Rover/ Mercedes is doing that now.