[TusharK]

US-based EV maker Tesla is said to be in talks with the government to set up fully-owned retail outlets in India. To sell directly in India, the company would have to comply with FDI guidelines for single-brand retail.




It has been reported that Tesla is planning to set up dealerships in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The company has been scouting commercial spaces that would house showrooms and service centres.

Recently, Tesla received roadworthiness certificates for four of its EVs from the government of India. The 'Model 3' and 'Model Y' are likely to be the first Tesla EVs to be sold in India.

The Tesla Model 3 is an electric sedan, while the Model Y is a crossover with a slightly raised ride height. The latter shares its underpinnings with the Model 3 and comes in 5 and 7-seat configurations.

Source: Business Standard

[Sran]

Tesla would be hugely successful in India. I know people who are itching to get one, some even for novelty factor and not only in big cities but even in small towns.

I remember a company in Bangalore, a small software company of about 10 people, highly intelligent workforce who were trying to solve the speed breaker problem in autonomous cars. The uneven pattern, height and unscientifically designed speed breakers in India made every model impossible. It has been a decade and most of those must have been sorted out or will be through data exchange between two teslas or data sharing from MG Hector and others. Teslas still do not recognize motorcyles and stationary vehicles.

Defence personnels should be extra careful as Teslas have been known to transfer camera data to its server in America and american data policy states that their government can access and use these data according to their need. China recently did banned teslas in defence areas but knowing Indian experts and their deficiencies it will be not even on their radar afterall, the govts. dream project of freight corridor and all Indian railways are monitored through HIKVISION cctv cameras

[Durango Dude]

Bad decision, would be priced prohibitively, taxed stratospherically and interiors of a Tesla are nothing to talk about and charging wise we are very poor. They'd exit faster than they set up shop here in India.

[androdev]

I feel this is a good decision. It is a given that the prices are going to be exorbitant, they might as well focus on a proper brand experience. Tesla has a cult following for sure, but there is no way that can be translated to sales in India given the poor purchasing power of that demographic here. It will mostly be limited to exotic-car genre where people want to add some novelty element to their collection. Will turn out to be a bit like the Lexus India story. Big brand but hardly any product-price-market fit.

[Shresth_EV]

Originally Posted by Sran

Defence personnels should be extra careful as Teslas have been known to transfer camera data to its server in America and american data policy states that their government can access and use these data according to their need. China recently did banned teslas in defence areas but knowing Indian experts and their deficiencies it will be not even on their radar afterall, the govts. dream project of freight corridor and all Indian railways are monitored through HIKVISION cctv cameras

I understand your reservations with security involving such matters, but the question is will autopilot be allowed to be used? We are just getting ADAS in relatively mass market cars like XUV700.

How it will be (mis)used will be 10x greater than the irresponsibility shown by residents of so called developed countries in EU/NA. I saw a news article an year ago or so where Mr. Gadkari said that AI self driving cars won’t be allowed in India. (I joined TBHP around 8mo ago so idk if it has a dedicated thread)

Autopilot is more or less similar to most other ADAS systems. It’s the FSD which is said to be the “revolution”.

That article I was talking about : https://www.livemint.com/news/india/...379861072.html

[veedub89]

Sounds like a great decision!

Tesla can control costs and the final amount that the customer pays for its cars.

The EV, unlike the traditional IC car does not require a lot of after-sales support so not having local dealers is not a deal breaker either.

By setting up its own interaction point, Tesla can also control each and every single user experience point and maximise it for the best outcome. It is similar to walking into an Apple store and getting swayed by all the swanky interiors and knowledgeable sales staff.

Tesla can redefine how we buy cars and add that much needed jazz to buying an EV.

No two ways about the fact that Tesla is a disruptor and a very good one at that.

[officer416]

Originally Posted by Sran

Tesla would be hugely successful in India. I know people who are itching to get one, some even for novelty factor and not only in big cities but even in small towns.

Defence personnels should be extra careful as Teslas have been known to transfer camera data to its server in America and american data policy states that their government can access and use these data according to their need. China recently did banned teslas in defence areas but knowing Indian experts and their deficiencies it will be not even on their radar afterall, the govts. dream project of freight corridor and all Indian railways are monitored through HIKVISION cctv cameras

Tesla would be just as successful as some other luxury brands in our country. Tesla is a premium product and no way it is doing numbers of a Nexon EV or MG ZS EV. Once the initial hype dies its going to sink further unless they launch a cheaper variant.

Secondly, US doesn't need to rely on Tesla's cameras to extract defense secrets, if a car is parked at a base they are no where near sensitive zones which are inside the building. That much information they can extract using satellite imaging. They rather use a software like Pegasus to get more valuable information than Tesla cameras.

Thirdly, HIKVISION cameras found on Amazon are not the only cameras that the company sells, If you do a little bit of research you will find they are one of the best CCTV manufacturers, they produce hi-def cameras and they are used at Subway stations, Airports and other high security zones in US as well.

So yeah no problem in authorities using Hikvision cameras, maybe if you ever get the opportunity to go see the security control room of those ports and railway stations you will know what they are capable of. These are high security zones, authorities know that buying potato cams off Amazon won't cut it.

[2000rpm]

No way Tesla will fail in India. Tesla has the range to easily survive 400 kms in real world conditions (may be much more). Also, as Hyundai has proven, Indians love gimmicky features. Add to that, best in class safety and the transparent roof!! Also, the Plaid mode, is super crazy!

Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore are the ideal hunting grounds for a car like Tesla, and they will do decent numbers in my view. The brand and Elon have so much fan following that it will easily beat a lot of premium car brands in India like Lexus and possibly even Volvo.

I hope they dont launch the self driving features though, with India's chaos, that will be a dangerous experiment for the fellow travelers.

[GTO]

Musk managed to create his own sales outlets in the USA, where there are very strict franchise laws - he fought tooth & nail with the governments there. India will be a cakewalk in comparison. Having their own outlets will help Tesla control the entire experience and offer stellar service levels. Not too different from Apple-owned stores. Trivia = Musk hired the same person who created the magic with Apple stores. I visited a Tesla outlet in CA and the ambience was bright & cheery, with no pushy sales tactics whatsoever.

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

They'd exit faster than they set up shop here in India.

Agreed with the start of your post, but not this ending part. Tesla is committed and they know they could have a future in India. They aren't going to "exit" fast. Anyone who has seen our luxury car sales figures & the high CBU taxation knows what kind of sales figures to expect.

[ninjatalli]

Excellent decision. I see a lot of plus points for all

1. Brand recall and exclusivity on premium-ness factors. Tata (and other vendor) EVs are for the masses. Tesla will probably focus on exclusivity for the initial year atleast. The above plan/strategy would definitely change by 2024-25 I guess.

2. Premium pricing for sure. Given there's a decent appetite for such cars, I'm sure this won't be a problem to Tesla. Definitely will be a sore problem for other luxury cars though. Expect some of their sales to take a hit for sure.

3. More 'jobs' storyline to run for sure wrt local population to run the retail outlets and supporting service centers, etc. In return I'm guessing Tesla will get some tax exclusions and other favors from the respective state government(s).

4. Butterfly effect will be the most important. This will not be equivalent to a Lamborghini or Ferrari setting up a retail outlet - I'm sure VW, GM and other major biggies will watch this space on how successful Tesla is on the EV market wrt India.

5. Question-mark on the impact to charging infrastructure going forward. Tesla has built (and still building) the EV charging setups across US; it'll be interesting to see if there's a similar plan for India.

Overall excellent scenario for the EV market. I'm sure Tata and other local players are helping in delaying the inevitable for them to scale up.

[JoshMachine]

Overall a very good decision for the below reasons, IMO:-

* Cutting-edge, world class EV technology brought to India shores.
* Opening up and monetization of Indian indigenous car-industry technology (likes of IoT, 5G, Connected Tech etc) possibly getting a shot in the arm.
* Potential multiplier effect on boost to associated EV industries - battery, sensors, chips et al. Not necessarily in volume but surely in value.
* 'Tesla' brand coming to India itself could be a triumph for India's international appeal of attracting similar enterprises.

However, the other side(s) of the coin:-

* Import duties' policy potential conflict with the current government's policy of encouraging local industries/enterprises. Musk has put this onus on the Indian government out in the public.
* Bureaucracy can kill the golden hen before it starts laying the golden eggs.
* Indian auto czars might throw a spanner in the Tesla works.
* What positioning strategy does Tesla decide to offer for their cars. Considering India's peculiar price obsession for the luxury segment even during covid times, Tesla might choose to take on the Big 3 Germans in terms of the price + positioning.
* The most important question - India's infra readiness. Will Musk do a Reliance/Ambani and build infra on his own at scale, hitherto unseen?
IMO, this is definitely not going to be a volume game but more of availability & access (many of us will recall the (in)famous Tata Nano volume / traffic onslaught prediction when it was launched, but was proved terribly wrong)

[download2live]

I smell an "Apple" here. I feel they will price themselves out of market like Apple and Toyota have been doing so well.
I hope I am wrong however. Anyways it bodes well for the EV revolution in India.

We need someone to do a Bajaj Pulsar like magic in EV segment.

[AnnaRocks]

Originally Posted by TusharK

Recently, Tesla received roadworthiness certificates for four of its EVs from the government of India.
Source: Business Standard

What is this roadworthiness test that has taken some time to clear? Do they tests if the Teslas are worthy enough for our roads or do they check if our roads are worthy enough for a Tesla?
How is a road-worthiness test carried out or the criterias to clear it?

[Ravi Parwan]

Originally Posted by AnnaRocks

... Do they tests if the Teslas are worthy enough for our roads or do they check if our roads are worthy enough for a Tesla?
How is a road-worthiness test carried out or the criterias to clear it?

, given the current state of our roads, I am not sure they are worthy of anything except 4x4 off-roaders....

I don't recall the exact details, but it has to do with pollution norms, safety standards of components and road worthiness (brakes, lights, wipers etc). This might actually be homologation and should be detailed in the motor vehicle act. Apparently homologation is done by Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) or the Vehicle Research and Development Establishment (VRDE), Ahmednagar
Link to the article https://economictimes.indiatimes.com...5.cms?from=mdr

[extreme_torque]

I am not sure why we are surprised by this given this has always been their sales model i.e. company owned outlets. Anyone who thinks this is going to increase the costs are forgetting that a tradition car company has a dealership in the middle which is operating the same sort of infrastructure while also profiting from it. In Tesla's case, any profit made by Tesla outlet is basically Tesla.

The other thing is that Tesla is already cool. Its cooler than most legacy automotive brands, German big three included. My 12 year nephew gives two hoot about my Lexus or my other previous cars such as - Infiniti but is constantly asking me when am I going to buy a Tesla. I have seen kids here getting excited when they see a Tesla. The new world order is based off of technology and is making a lot of young billionaries and millionaires in the process which have Tesla on top when it comes to buying a car.

Do you think Bhavish Agarwal of ola would look cool coming out of a Merc or a Tesla Model 3/S?