We have craving to see a Tesla on Indian streets for a long time now, but the Elon Musk led company has not able to do the same up until now. A certain Twitter user asked Elon Musk as to when we will finally see Tesla cars in India, and Musk quickly pointed out that laws regarding import duties would make these cars unaffordable in India, and hence be a bad business proposition.
Sir ,when will the Tesla cars enter in the Indian market? #ElonMusk #TeslaModel3 #SpaceX #Tatamotors #India #tesla @elonmusk
— Yashwanth Reddy (@Yashwanthnadal) August 1, 2019
I’m told import duties are extremely high (up to 100%), even for electric cars. This would make our cars unaffordable.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 1, 2019
For any Tesla, above the cost of INR 27 lakhs, an import duty of 100% will be applied, doubling the cost of the car.
Tesla Club India soon joined the conversation, with a little thought of their own, but Musk responded to that as well citing why that wasn’t a possibility either.
Yes Elon. For car over $40k, import is 100%. For less than $40k, its 60%. So won't make sense. But having a small vehicle assembly plant can help. Import just 10-15%. And govt recently reduced GST on EV from 12% to 5% and on chargers also from 18% to 5%.
— Tesla Club India (@TeslaClubIN) August 1, 2019
For other countries, we pay in part for the local factory by selling cars there ahead of time. Also, gives a sense of demand. Current rules in India prevent that, but recent changes in sales tax give hope for future changes.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 1, 2019
