Tesla has officially entered the Indian Electric Car market, after setting up its headquarter in Bengaluru, earlier this year. The electric car maker has now begun the hunt for showroom locations and service centres across New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Tesla Showroom Expansion Plans in India
With plans to expand the business and operations in India, Tesla has recently hired Manuj Khurana, former executive of Invest India (India’s invest promotion body), to help with the policy and business development of the company.
The American electric car maker has also registered a local company in the country with plans to import and market its Model 3 Sedan by mid-2021. The Model 3 targets the rich consumers in the luxury segment of the niche market.
The company has set its eyes on booking expansive commercial properties, spanning an imposing 20,000-30,000 square feet for each service centre and showroom. Last October, Elon Musk had confirmed via Twitter that the company will officially enter the Indian EV market in 2021.
Global property consultant giant CBRE Group has taken the contract to survey and shortlist locations for Tesla to help set up the showrooms and service centres in the designated cities across India.
The luxury car makers in India are presently limited to smaller showrooms of size 8,000 to 10,000 square feet in posh localities of New Delhi and Mumbai, due to shortage of real estate and rising property prices.
“If you look at Tesla’s showrooms globally, they are like experience centres. It would look at replicating that with some modifications for the Indian market,” said one of the sources on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, CBRE declined to comment or reveal further details on Tesla’s designated showroom locations to come up in the country.
Govt Incentivises Local EV Car Manufacturing
Of late, the Indian government has incentivised local manufacturing of electric cars with subsidised components and parts, besides supporting the development of infrastructure to help establish electric-car manufacturing plants in India.
Thereby, the production cost of electric cars could be cheaper than China and other markets, which eliminates Tesla’s need to import the cars and then sell them in India.
Source: Reuters
