Elon Musk Hints At Tesla's India Entry By 2019; Plans To Go Local To Keep Prices In Check

Elon Musk has once again took to Twitter to announce the present situation of Tesla and its near future plans. In a Twitter thread, the tech billionaire revealed how the company is planning to go about its production for its cross country markets, giving a valuable insight into the strong positioning of Tesla cars in the EV race and how it plans to maintain that. A key aspect in this, as mentioned by Musk, is going local.

In essence, the thread was meant for praising the work of Tesla¡¯s partner in battery production, namely Panasonic. Musk hailed Panasonic¡¯s ¡°extreme hard work¡± for the ¡°amazing results¡± achieved at its Nevada Gigafactory, pointing out the lock-in that the company has attained with the pace of Tesla car¡¯s production, now being able to produce the batteries at the same pace.

Tesla Gigafactory, Nevada (Reuters)

Though an interesting piece of information that Musk shared wasn¡¯t about the batteries. In one of the tweets in the thread, he hinted at an entry into India along with Africa and South America by as early as next year. The entry would then be reinforced with more product offerings the following year. The tweet reads ¡°Hopefully, partial presence in India, Africa & South America end of next year, with broader expansion in 2020¡±

Hopefully, partial presence in India, Africa & South America end of next year, with broader expansion in 2020

¡ª Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2018

Tesla has already shown an interest in India since long now and earlier had even announced plans of building a Gigafactory in the country for local production. In all probability, the company would be pushing its Model 3, the most pocket-friendly, offering in the country first. The intent and backing is there, considering the recent guidelines set up by the Indian government around electric vehicles. It is all a matter of time now as the world¡¯s biggest electric car maker eyes India.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk (Reuters)

And as per Musk, this can happen soon now. It will be interesting to see whether the company will initiate the sales in the country with shipped units or first set up the production facility and then start selling the cars with the locally manufactured units, ensuring cheaper price. Given that the company has recently achieved its break-even and become cash flow positive in the years of its operation, Musk might just have the required investment by next year to set up the production facility.

But those are just assumptions of course and as for Musk, he is known for setting up over ambitious deadlines for himself and then missing them. So since the tweet specifically starts with the word ¡°hopefully¡±, a delay in Tesla¡¯s entry to India should not come as a surprise.

Tesla Model 3 (Reuters)

What Musk did confirm, is the company¡¯s long-term goal to go local in its several markets. For this, he mentioned the local production of battery modules and packs at its China Gigafactory, which is yet to be set up. Musk made it clear that this is a necessary step for keeping the prices of the Tesla cars in check.

Recently, Musk had also shown an interest in electric bikes, hinting at a possible offering by the company in the near future.