Priyanka Tiwari
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While Elon Musk’s efforts to bring Tesla to India by relocating it from Germany appears to be a brand new approach, a report from Moneycontrol suggests that Musk is not the only one interested in importing electric vehicles from the Western European nation. Musk’s move comes in tandem with his growing interest in the Indian EV market.
Apart from China, Germany was one of the two leading exporters of electric cars into India. Out of 6410 electric cars imported to India within the first 11 months of 2024, Germany contributed a total of 2360 cars, accounting for approximately thirty seven percent. China, on the other hand, led the imports with 3270, or fifty one percent.
They manufacture cars in both China and Germany.
As for other news, while the Indian government wants to believe that Musk’s firm would want to open a factory in India, it is highly unlikely. The supposed sentiment is however not shared by Donald Trump. He has complained about the increasing tariffs placed by Indian authorities.
As he previously indicated, “If he built the factory in India…that’s unfair to us,” making it clear that he is against any increase in manufacturing in the Indian region.
EV imports do not have allocated borders such as China and Germany. Other countries such as the United States, Korea, and Sweden had also made it to the top five producers of electric cars, though their numbers were significantly lower.
Tesla’s Entry Into China
Tesla is anticipated to assist Germany in regaining some of the EV export market share that it has lost to India.
Germany used to be the leading EV exporter to India through 2023, having sold nearly double the amount of vehicles compared to their Chinese competitors, but this has now changed in 2024.
The Indian market is already welcoming the entrance of China’s BYD.
High stakes
Interestingly, Germany did better thn China when it comes to the value of EV imports. In export value, Germany is dominate since the EV exports were around $110.2 million which is twice what China earned ($48.7 million).
On average, Chinese EV imports were valued at $14,887 in 2024 while imports from Germany were $46,691 and from the USA $52,889.
While the price of the cheapest Teslas in the US is $38,990, the substantial 25 percent import tax will mean Indians having to pay almost $50,000.
Although Tesla has remained tight lipped about India, it has recently been quite active regarding job openings in Mumbai and Delhi, which confirms the intentions of the company after Elon Musk met with the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, during his trip to the US.
Reports suggest that Tesla is looking to establish physical store locations in BKC business district in Mumbai and Aerocity in New Delhi. It hopes to commence its retail business in India by the month of April.
In addition, it has also recently posted a recruitment ad looking for a PCB design engineer for electronic systems located in Pune.
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