Tesla set to open India showrooms in July with made-in-China EVs
[NEW DELHI] Tesla is set to open its first showrooms in India in July, sources familiar with the discussions said, kicking off formal operations in the world's third-biggest automobile market as the Elon Musk-led firm hunts for growth amid falling sales in Europe and China.
The electric vehicle (EV) giant's first set of cars have arrived in the country – Model Y rear-wheel drive SUVs shipped from Tesla's China factory, according to the sources, who asked not to be identified as the information is private, as well as documents seen by Bloomberg News. The Model Y is the world's largest-selling electric car.
Tesla is set to open its first showroom in Mumbai as early as mid-July, which will be followed by one in New Delhi, according to the sources. It has also imported Supercharger components, car accessories, merchandise and spares from the US, China and the Netherlands, the documents show.
The debut will end a years-long on-again, off-again saga over Tesla's entry into India – a market Musk has long eyed but held back from entering due to disagreements over tariffs and local manufacturing. The breakthrough in bringing Tesla to India comes after Musk met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the US in February.
Bloomberg News reported in February that Tesla was set to ship a few thousand cars to a port near Mumbai.
Tesla spokespersons did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on the opening of the India showrooms and the preparations underway.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Sign Up
Sign Up
Premium price
Five Model Y vehicles have already arrived in Mumbai from Tesla's Shanghai factory, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg News. The cars were declared at 2.8 million rupees (S$41,558) and attracted more than 2.1 million rupees in import duties – a levy that's consistent with India's 70 per cent tariff on fully-built imported cars under US$40,000 plus surcharges, the documents show.
The model is expected to go on sale for more than US$56,000 before taxes and insurance, though Tesla will determine the final sticker price based on its margin and positioning strategy, according to sources familiar with the plans.
That compares with an ex-showroom price of US$44,990 for the same model in the US, which sells for US$37,490 once tax credits are applied.
The premium price tag will likely be a major hurdle to Tesla's plans as the automaker will need to convince value-driven consumers to open their wallets. EVs account for just over 5 per cent of new passenger vehicle sales in India, but premium cars still represent less than 2 per cent of the market, data with the Indian government's vehicle registration portal shows.
Beefing up
The company has not appointed a new country head following the departure of Prashanth Menon, but is beefing up hiring across charging, retail and policy teams, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The Model Y imports represent an initial foray into the market and Tesla plans to expand its presence, including offering more models.
It's leasing warehouse space in Karnataka, in India's south, and is adding more in Gurugram, outside New Delhi, the sources said.
Tesla executives from other countries are making weekly visits, the sources said, to the Mumbai and New Delhi showrooms, which are in high-profile, luxury business precincts in an effort to attract affluent shoppers. BLOOMBERG
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Times
3 hours ago
- Business Times
Americans cash out on gold coins as Asian investors bulk up
Americans who once snapped up gold bars and coins are offloading the assets while their Asian counterparts show no letup in bullion buying, a sign that investors on opposite sides of the world have different outlooks on the global economy. The divergence suggests US residents who stash bars and coins at home or in safe deposit boxes – akin to stock market day traders – are more at ease about US President Donald Trump's tariffs, rising government debt and geopolitical tensions. And, they're ready to cash in after the metal's stunning rally over the past two years. Known as retail investors, these Americans are bucking broader market trends in which more wealthy investors continue to aggressively buy the haven asset as do sovereign funds and central banks. Meanwhile, Asian gold buyers are eschewing jewellery for bars and coins. In the US, 'a lot of the retail investors tend to be Republican-leaning. And whatever we say about the policy of tariffs, they like the idea of how Trump's doing', said Philip Newman, managing director at research consultancy Metals Focus. 'So from their point of view, there's less reason to buy gold.' The US market is so awash with bars and coins that some precious metals dealers have slashed their premiums to the lowest in six years to spur sales. And when investors sell, they're now looking at paying dealers a fee to offload gold. Bullion dealer Money Metals Exchange currently charges buyers of one-ounce American Eagle gold coins US$20 over spot prices, compared with US$175 four years ago. And sellers now need to pay about US$20 for the online exchange to take the metal, whereas in 2021 they would have received an extra US$121 for selling. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up The glut has led to a collapse in sales of newly minted bullion products, with the US Mint's American Eagle gold coins – a proxy for retail demand – tumbling more than 70 per cent in May from the prior year. The demand for gold bars and coins has been falling for the past three years in North America and Western Europe while rising everywhere else in the world, with last year marking the biggest divergence on record in data going back to 2014, according to Metals Focus. That gap continued into the first quarter of 2025, driven predominately by the selloff in the US market, according to the consultancy. Meanwhile, demand for bars and coins rose 3 per cent in the Asia-Pacific region in the first quarter, with the Chinese market registering a 12 per cent year-on-year increase, according to the latest data from the World Gold Council, a trade body representing gold miners. South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia all posted gains of more than 30 per cent. Initial worries of China and Asia getting hit the hardest by Trump's tariffs led to 'super strong' demand for gold in the region, said Kenny Hu, a commodity strategist at Citigroup. Concerns about local currency depreciation also means gold remains the go-to asset for Asian investors who played a key role in the metal's rally since 2024. Investors in South-east Asia lacking other investment options have started recognising gold as a strategic asset, said Brian Lan, managing director of GoldSilver Central, a Singapore-based precious metals dealer. 'South-east Asians who have memories of the war understand that gold is a form of insurance during periods of uncertainty,' he said. In the US, profit taking is part of the equation given gold's stunning climb – up 59 per cent since the beginning of 2024 to US$3,274.33 an ounce last Friday (Jun 27). But Wall Street banks are split over whether the rally has ended. Goldman Sachs reaffirmed a US$4,000-an-ounce forecast by next year and Morgan Stanley expects US$3,800 by the end of this year, while Citigroup sees prices dipping below US$3,000 next year. 'When there's fear, they own more gold and less risk assets,' said Hu of Citigroup. 'And now maybe they're thinking things are actually fine. Tariffs are not that bad. Things will get negotiated out. Geopolitics eventually will de-escalate and US growth may be not that bad.' BLOOMBERG
Business Times
7 hours ago
- Business Times
China's rare earths are flowing again, but not freely
[BEIJING] The threat of mass shutdowns across the automotive supply chain is fading as Chinese rare earth magnets begin to flow, though automakers and suppliers say production plans still face uncertainties and a continued risk of shortages. European suppliers have received enough licences to avoid the widespread disruptions predicted earlier this month but hundreds of permits remain pending, said Nils Poel, head of market affairs at supplier association Clepa. The rate of issuance is 'accelerating' and has risen to 60 per cent from 25 per cent, he said, but cases where the end users are based in the US, or where products move through third countries like India, are taking longer or not being prioritised. 'Overall the feeling is that we probably will still have production in July and that the impact will be manageable,' he said. 'Maybe here and there a production line will be affected, but we have avoided that for the moment.' On Friday (Jun 27), Ford chief executive Jim Farley said during an appearance in Colorado that the company has had to shut down factories over the past three weeks because of magnet shortages, without elaborating. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Volkswagen said in a statement to Reuters its supply of rare earth components was stable while rival Stellantis said it had addressed its immediate production concerns. China restricted exports of seven rare earths and related magnets in April in retaliation for US tariffs. Three months later there remains huge uncertainty about how it intends to police its opaque and complex export licensing system. Since the restrictions were imposed, rare earth magnet exports from China have fallen roughly 75 per cent, forcing some automaker production lines to halt in Asia, Europe and the US. The White House said on Thursday it had signed a deal with China to speed up rare earth approvals without providing details. Beijing said hours later both parties had confirmed details of the deal struck in London earlier this month, which was meant to resolve the rare earth issue, and it would process export licences in accordance with the law. Neither party detailed any changes to the existing export licensing system. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with Fox Business Network on Friday that, under the agreement announced on Thursday, rare earth shipments to the US from China would be expedited to all companies that have previously received them on a regular basis. 'I am confident now... the magnets will flow,' Bessent said. 'This is a de-escalation.' Two weeks ago the car industry was in a 'full panic', but licence approvals by China have sped up and there is now less threat of a sudden stop, according to an executive at a leading US automotive supplier and a source with knowledge of the supply chain at a major European carmaker. Both asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. China is approving the 'bare minimum' of critical licences for European firms to avoid production stoppages, a European official told Reuters, also speaking on condition of anonymity. US magnet maker Dexter Magnetic Technologies, which has defence clients, among others, has received just five of 180 licences since April, CEO Kash Mishra told Reuters, adding those were intended for non-defence sectors. 'It's an extended delay,' he said. 'It's 45 days trying to get the paperwork right for the supplier, and then it's 45 more days or so before any licences are granted.' REUTERS
Straits Times
10 hours ago
- Straits Times
Musk wades back into politics, slamming Trump's domestic policy bill
Mr Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, had been relatively quiet since his blowup with the president in June. PHOTO: REUTERS Mr Elon Musk waded back into the political fray on June 28, slamming a major domestic policy bill that Senate Republicans are scrambling to pass, just weeks after he ended a feud with President Donald Trump over the legislation. In the wee hours of the morning on June 28, GOP leaders released a new 940-page version of the legislation to carry out the President's agenda. Like the House version, the bill would slash taxes, scale back Medicaid, cut nutritional assistance and increase spending on the military and immigration enforcement. But the Senate also included some new measures intended to mollify holdouts in the Republican ranks, including a fund to help rural hospitals that depend on Medicaid. Leaders in the Republican majority are hoping to push the bill through the Senate and win final approval in the House before Mr Trump's deadline of July 4. Mr Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, had been relatively quiet since his blowup with the president in June, but as the Senate convened to discuss the package on the afternoon of June 28, he reentered the debate, calling the bill 'utterly insane and destructive' in a post on his social platform X. 'The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!' he wrote. The bill lies at the center of his earlier feud with the President. Mr Musk had said he believed that the package would significantly add to the national debt and would undermine the savings he claims were found by the Department of Government Efficiency, a federal government cost-cutting project he led. He called the bill a 'disgusting abomination' that would make the country bankrupt. The spat quickly became personal as both men unleashed a torrent of attacks at each other. Mr Musk suggested that Mr Trump was named in the government's files on Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and convicted sex offender who killed himself in jail while awaiting trial. Mr Trump said that Mr Musk's 'crazy' behavior was linked to drug use. The war of words came as Mr Musk was taking a step back from his role in the Trump administration to focus on his companies, which had been struggling. Though Mr Trump said he had no interest in repairing their relationship, Mr Musk said a week after their dispute that he regretted some of his posts and felt that he 'went too far', signaling a possible truce. It is unclear how much influence Mr Musk wields over the Senate and what, if any, impact his views will have on the passage of the legislation. But his recent comments criticising what Mr Trump calls his 'Big Beautiful Bill' certainly do not bode well for his relationship with the President. NY TIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
