[rajshenoy]

When our govt is pushing for local manufacturing in high tech defence, I fail to understand why will they bother to Tesla demands. More the delay, more power to local brands like TATA and Mahindra.

I feel Hyundai and Kia will grab this opportunity as we don’t really have a choice today.

Local brands for 10-20L city cars, Koreans for 20-40L and then we have the luxury cars for above 50L market. I am expecting lot of options by 2025 and hopefully that is when I will shift to EV

[MahiDesai]

Tesla and its thinking & Handling is like 3rd world country attitude. They would like to manufacture in China and import it into India !!

I think Nitin Gadkari has probably given them peace of his mind -- either make in india and sell it here OR pay huge import duties, which make their product selling become much harder.

Wiser for Tesla is to think of India as alternative plan B to China in case of China collapse and invest here in India to future proof their APAC strategy -- they just cannot ignore India's economic growth for next decade.

[gauravdgr8]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

While we are Ok using some nondescript Chinese vendors supplying kits to a local/ MNC company but cannot accept full CBU's from a known American company producing in China!

We are ok with an Indian company making an EV in India with Chinese kits, what we are not ok with is the fact that a known American company asking for tax cuts on a CBU. The same has not been provided to any manufacturer in the last 2 decades, so why a special treatment to Tesla?

Mercedes has been assembling in India since 1990s when they had a collaboration with Telco.

If Tesla can't commit, why should we give tax breaks for a luxury product.

Happy to see Tata investing in BEV like Curvv and Avinya.

Although Curvv looks a bit like Model X, I feel it was purposely done to tease Tesla that see what we can do in India even without you.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by MahiDesai

---
Wiser for Tesla is to think of India as alternative plan B to China in case of China collapse and invest here in India to future proof their APAC strategy -- they just cannot ignore India's economic growth for next decade.

Seems Indonesia will be the next big investment for Tesla.

Musk said there could be room for "partnerships in many things, because Indonesia has a lot of potential.

Link

[venom_op]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

As I mentioned before, Tesla is one company which has set very high standards in this industry, whether it is the technology or the infrastructure they create. Others follow. Can someone else invest in the infrastructure like what Tesla could have done?

I sincerely doubt that. I am not a tesla fan by any stretch, but you have to admit what they did for EV adoption across the US, UK and EU is several levels above anyone else.

Their supercharger network is the reason EV adoption took a leap in those countries. Strong infra with reliable connectivity.

VW was forced to build the Electrify America platform after their dieselgate scandal. They did it, but the systems are unreliable so many times. Variations in charger capacities, downtime for the chargers, etc is still quite high compared to Tesla's Supercharger Network. Sometimes the charger is active but the app will say it's not. Sometimes vice versa. Makes route planning much tougher.

I feel claiming Tesla wasn't going to contribute much to EV adoption in India and being happy with our Nexons is really stretching reality here. I mean who wants a 35-40L car that can do close to 600 kms of real-world range when we can have a 20L car that will do 250 at best, right? Not to mention the added tech and usability that comes with vastly more sophisticated EVs.

This is not to say that Tesla can't be a little full of themselves and were probably very adamant at the table. But if they'd managed to get a good deal for EV imports in India in general and not a specific case, don't forget, the greatest beneficiary would be us, the consumers.

[OrangeCar]

Looking at Tesla's manufacturing facilities, I think they are looking for scale. Large facilities churning out cars in the lakhs. This maybe cost effective and help them operate at scale in the future. US, Europe (Germany factory), China - all three factories are in the world's three largest markets. If they have to next plug in the gaps at other markets, they probably would be looking at SE Asia (like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, etc) which would help them serve those markets, plus others like Australia.

Sadly, India doesn't provide a large enough domestic market (for cars itself, luxury market is even smaller, and electric is still nascent). Obviously, plans are on hold. They will renew plans if and when the Indian market becomes large enough.

The thing is, Tesla, whereever they have gone, have set off the electric car market going. They started in the US. Chinese manufacturers are aplenty in its own domestic market (so much so BYD will start selling electric cars in India too!). And the same thing in Europe. Added advantage - Tesla supercharging network! All this gives impetus for other players in the market to act as well. Which will mean, India will have to play catch up yet again, in another new sector.

Also, had come across this below tweet, somebody driving across the Giga Texas factory. Look at the sheer size of it!
Tweet.

[mkumar79]

No officer or minister would give a single company too much concession due to long term risks of Courts,CAG,CCI or of the opposition being elected to power.

Ford's shoes are still blazing hot from running back home. Tesla sure doesn't want to be in their shoes now.

Win-win for both parties. Sometimes just being friends is better than getting married. Of course, the audience is left disappointed big time

[nithin5497]

Teslas were always quite expensive, even for the US. Their cheapest model there if I’m not wrong costs around 45k USD, so expecting them to launch a car at anything less than 50L is a bit like wishful thinking.

[dragracer567]

To be honest, the fact that the Indian government accommodated Tesla this much is in itself a surprise. I mean, Tesla is just being unreasonable here, every car manufacturer has to pay a certain tax for CBUs and the same is the case for electric cars as well. It's really beyond me how letting Tesla import cars will help the electric car industry in India. I respect the perseverance of Elon Musk as well as his ability to the undoable but he is just asking for too much here - you can't always have your cake and eat it too.

As GTO pointed out, if Mercedes can assemble the Maybach and if Land Rover can assemble the Range Rover Velar in India, I think Tesla can easily assemble the Model 3 and Model Y in India. Tesla might've started the electric car renaissance but they are being quickly outclassed by traditional carmakers in terms of affordability and new Silicon Valley rivals in terms of being bespoke. If anything, the Tesla line is starting to feel dated with the Model S design being a decade old. Don't get me wrong, Tesla is still the benchmark, but I don't think India's car industry is losing anything by not having Tesla in India.

[fhdowntheline]

Somehow I feel this is a bit of a limiting move. Indias automotive industry expanded multifold only after the early nineties coinciding with liberalization. If we are serious about EV goals then we need a Tesla to fire up competition and aspiration.As pointed out , there is still so much by way of components that's being imported, so what difference does it make for a few thousand cars? But consumers will certainly notice and demand similar capabilities from other EV makers. Secondly our societal thought is still obsessed with identifying cars as a luxury item, and hence the absurd levels of taxes. That mindset has to change. Shouldn't one promote a Tesla EV for 30-40L than an equivalent oil burner for 50-60L ?

[carmayogi]

Make no mistake, this is a huge loss for India. The very same Tesla got the red carpet treatment in China where they were allowed to build a fully owned plant rather than create a joint venture like every other foreign car maker was forced to do.

Even the Germans with all the pressure from the big domestic players wooed Tesla hard.

Both these countries did this because they know that this company is the world's fastest growing car company and is vital to pushing the revolution to EVs forward. Today this is already proving successful for China as the Shanghai factory is now Tesla's largest export production plant.

Considering India is a net oil importer and a country facing pollution issues, wooing the world's biggest maker of EVs is a no brainer. You naturally create a pool of talent and build the market simultaneously. Setting up shop here would help them launch any future cheaper car. Instead, we will get delayed gratification and continue to buy diesel and petrol German cars.

I have personally seen how quickly Tesla has accelerated in the US market and I've driven their vehicles. As an Indian and a shareholder, I am deeply depressed by this news.

[MMV]

Tesla will have to (and should also) abide by the rules of a country if they want to do business there, and that too of a nation with huge market potential like ours.

Wishful thinking of Tesla coming to India (either by diluting their ask or GoI modifying the rules) and benefiting the consumers may not become a reality soon (unless back channel negotiations give an interesting proposition to all parties). Having said that if Tesla chooses to ignore India (considering it is a small market - considering the selling price of their cars) it is more likely to benefit the competitors of Tesla in the long run. These players can offer their cars and improve them, based on market feedback and road (also climate) conditions. This market space (and some luxury of time) may not be available when a company which is superior in technology is breathing down their neck.

3-5 years down the line we all can see the results (then it would make for an interesting analysis)

[karanddd]

Tesla can sell more cars in China in a week than they can in India in a year. It makes little sense to invest in India as no other luxury manufacturer (and Tesla would be luxury here) has seen any great upsurge in sales in the past 5-6 years. Tha auto market in India, especially for cars costing 40 lakhs plus, is essentially stagnant and will likely remain so for a while. A detailed study may find that it's more or less the same group of people, without any great increase or decrease in their numbers, buying such cars. Until the public is more flush with cash due to an across the board economic boom, which looks terribly unlikely, we cannot expect to be able to persuade the likes of Tesla to do local manufacturing.

[fhdowntheline]

We needed a Maruti Udyog and further down the line, the Daewoos and Hyundai's to propel Indian car buyers towards a more contemporary experience. Similarly, we need the world leader in EVs to have a presence in order to be a catalyst. On the one hand, we complain that some of the international OEMs treat India as a second-rate market, while on the other side, we have entry barriers in the form of taxation. How should the twain meet?

[gnome]

Originally Posted by GTO

Just 2 days back, we got to know about Ford dropping its India EV plans,
It's a level playing field for all OEMs, whether Indian or Multinational. Take it or leave it.

Tesla requested special concessions for import of all electric vehicles, not just their own. They did not get much support because other companies like BMW have non-electric vehicles in their portfolio and it does not exactly benefit them.
It is a very sensible request to kick start development of infrastructure for electric mobility. Once electric vehicles reach a critical mass, these regulations can be changed (or put a cap to begin with). Indian cities are among the most polluted - we desperately need a big push from government to accelerate electric vehicles. Miniscule measures like batter-swapping incentives are not going to do it.