Tesla Set to Open Showroom in Mumbai, India, Early Next Week

Tesla has imported cars and merchandise worth $1 million for the launch its first showroom in India’s financial capital Mumbai next week.

After several years of negotiation with the Modi government, CEO Elon Musk has bitten the bullet and will open Tesla’s first outlet in the world’s third largest car market despite complaining previously about the country’s high import tariffs.

In an invitation sent to local media late on Thursday, the carmaker said the event on Tuesday July 15 was the “launch of Tesla in India through the opening of the Tesla experience centre at Bandra Kurla Complex,” located in the city’s leading commercial business district.

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Grappling with excess manufacturing capacity at its other factories and falling sales, Tesla has pivoted to selling imported cars in India on which it will need to pay about 70% import duty and other levies.

Commercially available custom records from January to June showed Tesla imported vehicles, chargers and accessories into India worth close to $1 million, mainly from China and the United States.

The vehicles included six of Tesla’s best-selling Model Y at a shipment value of $32,500 each for five cars, and $46,000 for the long-range version, as well as several Superchargers.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has for years wooed Tesla, including forming a new policy to attract the carmaker to build its EVs locally.

One of the interesting questions now is whether India will lower its tariffs on such imports as part of its framework trade deal with Washington.

Last year, Musk had planned to visit India, where he was expected to announce an investment of $2-3 billion, including in local EV manufacturing. But he cancelled the trip at the last moment.

Tesla has said that it is not interested in manufacturing in India at the moment. A report in February said the EV maker has also chosen a location for a showroom in New Delhi, but it is not known if that deal went ahead.

US President Donald Trump has said that if Tesla were to build a factory in India to circumvent that country’s tariffs, it would be “unfair” to the US.

Tesla has hired people for several of the three dozen positions it advertised in India earlier this year, bringing on board store managers, sales and service executives. It is looking for supply chain engineers and vehicle operators for its autopilot ambitions.

‘Panasonic to postpone EV battery factory’

Meanwhile, in related news from Japan, Panasonic Holdings will postpone its plan to bring its new US electric vehicle battery plant to full capacity by March 2027 as Tesla, its main customer, is experiencing sluggish sales, the Nikkei business daily reported on Friday (July 11).

The new target date to reach full production of 30 gigawatt-hours at the $4 billion plant in the US state of Kansas has yet to be fixed, the Nikkei said. Panasonic said it could not immediately comment.

The Kansas plant, Panasonic’s second large-scale battery plant in the United States after one in Nevada, is scheduled to start mass production soon, the newspaper said.

Tesla has been grappling with a series of challenges including Musk’s public feud with President Trump, the end of US EV tax credits and a sales slump due to the group’s ageing vehicle lineup.