Electric cars account for about 160,000 sales annually in India
Photo: Zataka
After years of negotiations to enter the Indian market, Tesla launched the Model Y in July, hoping for quick success. But the start of Elon Musk’s brand in India has been “disappointing.” Since July this year, Tesla has sold just over 100 cars, according to dealer data sent to the BBC.
100 cars will be delivered out of about 600 orders, according to Bloomberg. That’s a small number for a brand that delivers this volume of cars in just four hours around the world.
Customs fees of up to 100% of the car price
The problem was expected. Tesla was unable to circumvent Indian customs duties, which range between 70% and 100% depending on the country of origin. This raised the initial price of the car to the equivalent of more than R$340,000. At this price, the Indian car market – largely dominated by affordable models – leaves only a few potential customers.
Elon Musk’s company planned to use its full annual import quota of 2,500 vehicles. Ultimately, it will only import what is necessary to fulfill these 600 orders, centered in Mumbai, Delhi, Pune and Gurugram – the only cities where Tesla has opened points of sale and workshops.
In a market of approximately 4.5 million cars per year, Tesla’s sales are very low. This is even taking into account that the share of electric vehicles in India is 3.7%, or about 160,000 vehicles. Most of them are models from low-cost national brands, such as…
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