Tesla CEO Elon Musk had all eyes on himself in the last couple of days, thanks to a new model that made its way to the Tesla line up. Just as the Model Y compact SUV was rolled out, a following series of claims and conversations on Twitter revealed yet another interesting piece of information from the US auto maker. It is coming to India soon!
Don't get too excited though. This is not the first time that the tech entrepreneur is teasing his potential market in India. He has done it before way too many times, even claiming to put up one of Tesla's Gigafactory in the country. The plan is to go local with the production for optimal pricing of the products, as per a tweet by him back in November.
Reuters
This time around, he has just hinted at the potential entry timing of the company to India. "Would love the be there this year," reads the tweet, followed by a "[or] definitely next." With repeated announcements of coming to India in 2019 by Musk, it might just be the year it will happen.
If so, Tesla is expected to bring the Model 3 to the country first. Its most affordable offering, Tesla has just announced the base variant of the Model 3 for USD 35,000 (INR 24.1 lakh), which is to be sold online only. So just to enter a new market, this might just be the best business model at the time.?
There are other countries as well that the company is eyeing. The November tweet by Musk mentioned partial presence in India, Africa and South America. "Broader expansion" in 2020 will follow.
AFP
All the claims point to one thing, Musk is serious about bringing Tesla to India. And for all the right reasons. India is potentially the biggest market for EVs after China. With the recent efforts by the Indian government to increase EV adoption in the country, the auto maker is also to gain through the incentives being offered at the time. A similar incentive model played a crucial part in Tesla's success back in the US.?
Another plus is the fact that many other OEMs are yet to bring their EVs to India. Most of the products have been lined up for 2019 or later. With Tesla hitting the Indian grounds within this year, it will be much in time to grab a piece of a large untapped market.