Tesla Is Finally in India. But, Who’s Buying?
23 July 2025 6:15 PM IST
Tesla has been flirting with the Indian market for years. In 2016, after Elon Musk tweeted about it, some even paid the 1000 USD fee and pre-booked Tesla’s Model 3. But, they never got their car.
Earlier this month, in July 2025, Tesla finally launched in India. The company will have three showrooms, one in Mumbai, one in Delhi and one in Gurugram. It’ll sell its Model Y in India, priced at 60 lakh rupees.
But, the Indian EV market has changed drastically since 2016. There are so many local and foreign players in town now – BYD, Mercedes, Audi, Tata and Mahindra, to name a few. Tesla’s sales have also gone down, globally.
Given that, will the company succeed or will it tank in India?
In the latest episode of The Signal Daily, we’ll hear from consumers and auto experts. Why would an Indian consumer choose to go for a Tesla right now?
The Core produces The Signal Daily. At The Signal Daily, we don’t do hot takes, instead we bring you deep dives into the how and why of consumer trends.
To check out the rest of our work, go to www.thecore.in. Thank you for listening!
The Core produces The Signal Daily. Find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts. To check out the rest of our work, go to www.thecore.in
NOTE: A machine transcribed this episode. A human has looked at this text but there might still be errors. Please refer to the audio above, if you need to clarify something. If you want to give us feedback, please write to us at [email protected].
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TRANSCRIPT
Kudrat (Host): Vishal Gondal lives in Mumbai and is the founder of Goqii, an AI-powered health tech company. He’s also a self-described Elon Musk fanboy.
So, of course, when Musk first tweeted that Tesla will be coming to India, Vishal joined the several Indians who paid the 1000 dollar booking fee — that’s equivalent to 80 thousand rupees — and signed up for Tesla’s Model 3. This was 9 years ago, in April 2016.
Vishal: since then it has just been a series of disappointments, uh, with Tesla.
Kudrat (Host): Tesla’s been flirting with the Indian market for years. When people asked Elon Musk about Tesla coming to India, he’d respond and say, oh soon, or early next year. The ones who paid the booking fees eventually gave up and asked for a refund. Some got their money back, some are still waiting.
But now, in July 2025, the wait is finally over. Tesla has announced three showrooms in India – one in Mumbai’s BKC or Bandra Kurla Complex, one in Gurugram and one in New Delhi. On July 15, Tesla’s Hong Kong head flew into Mumbai for the BKC showroom’s opening.
Tesla’s website says that only its Model Y will sell in India, for 60 lakh rupees. If you want the self-driving option, you need to pay an additional 6 lakh rupees – more on that later.
Unlike in 2016, in 2025, the EV market in India looks very different. There are many other players around, both in the affordable and in the upscale car segment. Of these, the latter is the one that the 60-lakh rupee Tesla car occupies.
Tesla is also debuting in India at a peculiar time for the company. Globally, Tesla’s sales have dropped. In Q2 2025, Tesla sold 13.5% fewer cars than they did last year – that’s the company's largest ever yearly decline. Given that, will Tesla take off or tank in India?
Kudrat (Host): I’m your host Kudrat Wadhwa and you’re listening to The Signal Daily. We don’t do hot takes. Instead, we bring you deep dives into the how and why of consumer trends.
In this episode, we’ll hear from Tesla’s early and current bookers, as well as experts. Now that there are so many other EVs in the market, why would an Indian consumer go for a Tesla?
Kudrat (Host): In 2016, people saw Elon Musk as a bold, visionary underdog – kind of like the real-life version of Tony Stark from The Avengers. He spoke passionately about wanting to make humanity a multiplanetary species, transitioning to sustainable energy, and creating safer AI.
Those in the tech world, like Vishal, got drawn to him because of Musk’s image as an oddball genius. He wasn’t chasing ad dollars. Rather, he was building the real stuff: rockets, electric cars, solar panels and batteries.
Tesla was Musk’s most popular product then. It disrupted the auto industry – it had sleek design and the latest technology. 2016 was around when the car became big in Silicon Valley in California — its auto-driving function wasn’t perfect, but was close. The car was expensive, yes, but also aspirational.
Like Vishal, Varun Krishnan, also a tech entrepreneur, saw Elon Musk and Tesla as visionary in 2016. He had already driven the Tesla in the US, so naturally, he was excited for the car to come to India.
Varun Krishnan: me and a bunch of my friends and people who I, uh, speak to regularly and also, um, pre-booked the test lab with the hopes that they can come to India soon.
Kudrat: When the car didn’t come, he struggled to get his money back, though eventually, he was able to.
Varun Krishnan: Alll said and done. I'm glad they're finally are officially here, looking forward to going to their store, uh, uh, which in Mumbai,
Kudrat (Host): Though Varun says he’ll be visiting the Tesla store in Mumbai, he won’t be booking the car this time around.
Varun Krishnan: if you see the market now, there are plenty of options, right? Back 10 years ago, you barely had any EVs in gas and mind.
I think nobody was even venturing into making EVs. You never had even, or BMW or even launching EVs mg, I think was about to get into the market.
but then now you have mg, they're like one of the major players and you have Tata, you have mg, Tata, and then also I see Hyundai, I see there is Citron, there is BYD.
They make some fantastic vehicles, BYD. And uh, that is also, um, um, like even you see, uh, this price point which Tesla class launched.
It's competing with the likes of Mercedes and Audi, which also have. S like luxury SUVs at the price point. So there's plenty of choice right from the budget. Like an MG comment, it starts at about five to six lags with all the, uh, like affordability options and all that to we have like a, like a.
Uh, Mercedes or MBMW. What about our one CR? Right. I even saw Rolls-Royce ev yesterday when I was gone to some, uh, dinner.
Kudrat (Host): A Tesla is already an expensive car, even in the US. The Model Y costs 39,000 USD in the US; on top of that, India applies a high duty of between 70 - 110% on imported EVs. That’s in part why Tesla’s Model Y costs the equivalent of 32 lakh rupees in the US but 60 lakhs in India.
The Indian government’s rationale is that it wants companies to manufacture in India – a month after Modi and Musk met for a state dinner in February 2025 at the White House in the US, India rolled out a new EV policy. The country reduced its import taxes to 15% for EVs costing 35,000 USD or more, as long as the carmakers committed to building a factory and investing Rs 4,150 crore in India within the next three years.
But, US President Trump disapproved of Musk setting up a production plant in India – in an interview with Fox News soon after, he said it would be “unfair” to the US.
The Teslas that they’re now selling in India aren’t made in the US, though. They’re from their China factory – that’s because those cars have the driver’s seat on the right, unlike those made elsewhere.
Neither Vishal nor Varun will be getting a Tesla right now. Vishal has an Audi E-tron, which he loves. Varun said he wants to buy a Tata or a Mahindra EV for himself and an MG Comet for his wife.
Moreover, Tesla’s founder’s image has also taken a beating since 2016. Elon Musk’s behaviour is much more erratic and divisive now. He’s also aggressively political, both on X and offline. He spent millions of dollars helping current US President Trump get elected. Since then, the two have had ugly, public fights. Elon has now even started his own party called ‘The America Party’. This has certainly impacted his perception in the US, where many refuse to buy Teslas or have sold theirs because they disagree with him politically.
Kudrat (Host): A lot has changed since 2016 – there’s so many more high quality EVs around of all price segments. Elon Musk doesn’t evoke the same respect and awe as he did before.
Globally too, Tesla’s sales are dropping – given all that, will Tesla’s 2025 launch in India be successful or not?
Experts say that Tesla’s game was never to be a mass car in India anyway. Here’s Hormazd Sohrabjee, Editor of Autocar India talking about this:
Hormazd Sohrabjee: Well, I think clearly it's, uh, gonna be a niche product. I think, uh, you know, uh, I think there's been a lot of hype around it, but at the end of the day, it's gonna be a very niche product.
As I said, I don't see it doing more than maybe 1500, 2000 cars a year max.
Kudrat: 1500-2000 is what’s normal for the luxury EV market in India. Last year, Mercedes and Porsche also sold less than 3,000 units of EVs per year.
Tesla also has unique features, though its interiors are quite barebones.
Hormazd Sohrabjee: Well, the product is unique. Uh, there are some unique features. I think. Uh, the software is phenomenal and, uh, you know, the way, uh, the kind of, uh, let's say the, the software works, the whole experience.
Uh, you've got some really cool features and functions, uh, you know, which, uh, only Tesla has. And, uh, really the way the, uh, experience is, uh, using the infotainment screen, it is quite special. Then I think also Tesla's big strength is performance and, uh, it's batteries. So they get phenomenal range and phenomenal performance, but, uh, the rest of the non.
Ev bits and normal carpets, they're quite ordinary. In fact, fit and finish isn't great. Bride comfort is okay. The interior cabin isn't particularly plush, though. It's quite funky with just one screen dominating and there's nothing else, no buttons at all, except a few buttons on the steering wheel for, uh, for, you know, primary controls.
Kudrat (Host): What sets Tesla apart from its competitors like BYD is that its batteries have better range. But, beyond that and its infotainment screen, Tesla will sell in India primarily because of its brand name. That’s also what Vinay Pipparsania, automotive and mobility industry expert, told The Signal Daily.
Vinay: I think what's working, uh, the customers who are buying this car are not buying a car.
They're buying a membership to a club and they're buying that membership because it's part of the way they would like to be associated. Uh, somebody who's from a high tech, uh, sort of, uh, COE, somebody who values that kind of, uh, being a first mover, uh, sort of a technology, uh, you know, uh, warrior, yes, that's what it is.
And those are the people. So this is not for mass marketing. Yeah. And to believe that it is, is completely blowing it in the wrong direction. Yeah. Uh, will it create enough volume? Will it create it? That's not what it's about. Okay. So it's about creating a niche. Yeah. Can we make it into a broader niche? Time will tell..
Kudrat (Host): Even though most people outside the tech world don’t necessarily understand Elon’s charm anymore, many in it still admire him as a maverick, who’s bent on taking humanity to new heights. The Signal Daily spoke to Shaolin Chen, who's based in Mumbai and who’s booked Tesla’s 60 lakh rupee Model Y.
He said that while he doesn’t always agree with all of Elon Musk’s opinions, he very much admires his general philosophy toward the world. He also clarified that he has a personal stake in Tesla succeeding, since he owns shares in the company.
Shaolin Chen: Like, I would say that there are more compelling products in the market at a better price range.
I mean, I, I don't wanna take names. Yeah. I'm, and I'm, I'm certainly aware of that. Yeah. Uh. But as a, as a shareholder in the company, you know, uh, as a show of support for, for entry into the Indian market, I think like, uh, mostly that's why I did it. Uh, the main reason being, you know, two factors, what the company right now is, uh, trying to solve, which is.
Autonomy, which is full self-driving capabilities. Yeah. And, uh, the, the second is, uh, humanoids, honestly.
Kudrat (Host): Shaolin also believes that Musk’s pro-tech and safer AI approach is actually helping humans evolve into being better versions of themselves.
Shaolin: And then when you think from an evolutionary perspective, uh, one would, one could say that, you know, this is the next stage of evolution of life, probably.
Kudrat (Host): Here Shaolin is specifically talking about Tesla’s self-driving feature. Tesla is offering that feature in India for an extra 6 lakhs, that’s a feature that Shaolin has signed up for.
But, right now, self-driving isn’t even fully legal in the country. From the company’s perspective, this is a statement as well as an investment into the future, according to the experts The Signal Daily spoke to.
Shaolin: From my end, it, it's not that I'm completely delusional. But, uh, I understand these form factors.
And the whole point. Of intelligence or artificial general intelligence or autonomy or human or robots is, is to make sense of the chaos.
Like a a, a normal computer is, is doing orderly work anyways, right? The, the idea of intelligence is to make sense of the kios and even if the, the product or the software. Is not completely ready now. And, and if you just look, uh, at any other technology, uh, it, it never gets worse. Okay. So, I mean, humans, they, they, they will peak.
I mean, people will peak bio biologically probably at 25, right? Like, uh. Mentally, physically, and, uh, they will peak at 25.
Right. But, but technology, uh, it, the worst it's ever gonna be is today.
Mm-hmm. And, uh. The worst it's ever gonna be used today. So, so, so that is one, one way I look at it.
You know, even if they come out with like basic functions of like, you know, valet parking, That's a very strong step forward in, in solving this almost, I would say impossible problem.
Kudrat (Host): For Shaolin, buying a Tesla isn’t just economic, it’s also about his belief in the future of technology and of humanity.
So, will Tesla take off in India? Unlikely, at least in terms of volume. But that’s not what the company is chasing here. Tesla’s launch is less about market share and more about staking a claim—signalling intent to Indian regulators, consumers, and investors. For some early adopters like Shaolin, buying a Tesla is about belief in the future of tech, not price tags.
The bigger story? India’s EV market is maturing. Consumers now expect both cutting-edge features and value. And while Tesla may still turn heads, it’s no longer the only game in town.
Kudrat (Host): That’s all for today. You just heard The Signal Daily. We don’t do hot takes. Instead, we’ll bring you deep dives into the ‘how’ and ‘why’ on consumer trends.
The Core produces The Signal Daily. Follow us wherever you get your favourite podcasts. To check out the rest of our work, go to www.thecore.in.
If you have feedback, we’d love to hear from you. Write to us @[email protected], or you can write to me personally @[email protected].
Thank you for listening.
