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Tesla drives into India's chaotic streets, crowded market

The opening of its first store in the country has created a buzz, but will Elon Musk's EV venture have enough firepower to go on the charge?

By Jasodhara Banerjee Forbes India Staff

Published: Jul 15, 2025 05:06:14 PM IST

Updated: Jul 15, 2025 06:01:44 PM IST

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On a morning when torrential rain and lightning enveloped Mumbai, draining the roads off the usual throngs of erratic two-wheelers and laying bare their innumerable potholes, Tesla opened its experiential showroom at the Maker Maxity Mall in Bandra Kurla Complex, opposite a Diesel showroom. Mediapersons crowded around its closed glass doors for a glimpse of the Model Y SUVs—reportedly shipped in from Shanghai—kept shrouded inside. The 4,000 sq ft retail space in BKC’s premium shopping destination comes for Rs35 lakh a month, and has Apple’s flagship store, and a string of high-end brands, nearby for company, along with a bunch of corporate offices.

The inauguration of the showroom comes within a week of Starlink—another of Tesla owner Elon Musk’s ventures—being granted a licence to launch commercial operations in India by the country’s space regulator Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe). Much like the lease tenure of the Tesla showroom, this licence is also valid for five years. With beefed-up security all around, Maharashtra Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis dropped by the showroom, and was given a walk-through by a senior Tesla executive. He spoke about how Mumbai, with its spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation, was the appropriate location for the US-based electric carmaker’s first showroom in India.

But Tesla is only selling its cars in India, and not joining hands with any of its innovators or entrepreneurs. The completely-built-units (CBUs) are being built in the US and China, home to Tesla’s current nemesis BYD, which is also eyeing India’s rapidly expanding electric vehicle (EV) market. Tesla’s imports will reportedly face a 70 percent tariff in India, and how much that will be reduced will depend on the final contours of the trade deals between India and the US. This means Tesla buyers in India will be paying around $69,770 for the Model Y, which costs $44,990 in the US, $36,700 in China and $53,700 in Germany.

Meanwhile, Tesla’s other challenger in the Indian market—Vietnamese EV maker VinFast—will begin production at its $2-billion plant in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, later this month. It will also accept bookings for two of its models, VF7 and VF6, starting today, the same day as Tesla’s showroom inauguration. Other competitors include the electric variants of luxury carmakers such as Audi, Mercedes, and BMW, and other Asian carmakers such Kia, Hyundai and MG Motors.

Also read: How Korean carmaker Hyundai cracked the Indian market where European makers are struggling

As Tuesday morning’s downpour came down to a drizzle, and the security arrangements thinned by afternoon, reporters and photographers jostled to get time slots to enter the showroom. A handful of curious onlookers clicked pictures, while the occupants of Audi and BMW SUVs and Mercedes sedans trundling by cast amused looks in its direction. The occupant of an electric Audi sedan stopped to get out and click a selfie, with the Tesla signage—also written in Devnagari, in accordance with state laws—behind him. A Tesla employee scurried into the showroom’s rear entrance holding Pret-a-Manger sandwiches, while the bouncers huddled outside discussed samosa pavs and vada pavs.

“All I want is a Tesla branded umbrella,” laughed an employee of the adjacent mall. “But Musk should have come,” said another, disappointed that the billionaire skipped the much-awaited inauguration. “He should have come to India; because India is a market where you can sell anything.” The first employee scoffed at him, and added that Musk has enough troubles in the US already and has no time for this showroom. The chatter soon turned to making a decision between kheema pav and Chinese noodles for lunch.

Another young woman, having finished her shopping at the mall and waiting for her chauffeur to bring her car around, dialled her husband on a video call to show him the Tesla store. “He is more into electric cars, and we have an MG,” she said. “It’s good that Tesla is in India, but I doubt if it is a fit for Indian roads. Features like the full self-drive option are quite useless here.” A visit to the showroom with her husband will perhaps take place later, she waved as she got into her EV.

Also read: How JSW MG Motor eroded Tata Motors' EV lead

At a café next door, two people were deep in conversation about India’s energy consumption bill, when the talk turned to Tesla, unsurprisingly. Range anxiety and the lack of charging infrastructure came up in the discussion as reasons why neither of them had seriously considered buying an EV.

News reports have said Tesla has imported vehicles, chargers and accessories worth about $1 million into India. One version of the Model Y has a range of 500 km on a single charge, while the long-range version claims a range of 622 km.

The new Tesla showroom has definitely generated curiosity and chatter. But here, on the congested, bumpy streets of India’s metros and its crowded, highly-competitive auto market, it will need much more than that to make a meaningful mark.