Tesla has made its long-awaited entry into India with the opening of its first showroom — nine years after CEO Elon Musk first teased the move in April 2016 and following years of delays and shifting timelines in one of the world’s largest automotive markets.
Tesla calls the showroom an “Experience Center” and has located it in Maker Maxity Mall in Bandra Kurla Complex, the central business district of Mumbai. The 4,000-square-foot center features the Model Y in rear-wheel drive (RWD) and long-range RWD versions, imported from Shanghai.
The Model Y RWD comes with a price tag of ₹59,89,000 (approximately $68,000), while the long range RWD is priced at ₹67,89,000 (approx. $79,000). The company is also offering a full self-driving add-on at ₹600,000 (approx. $7,000).
Indian customers can order the Model Y starting today for registration in Delhi, Gurugram, and Mumbai by paying a non-refundable deposit of ₹22,220 (approx. $260). Deliveries for the RWD variant are expected to begin in Q3, while the long-range RWD is slated to hit the roads in Q4.
Ahead of deliveries, Tesla has committed to establishing four charging stations in both Mumbai and Delhi, including Supercharger posts and destination chargers. The company is also expected to open its second store in Delhi later this month as part of its expansion in India.
The automaker also plans to import cars from its facility in Berlin once the India-EU free-trade agreement is signed, TechCrunch has learned.
India is the fourth-largest automotive market after China, the U.S., and Japan — with nearly 6 million vehicles produced annually, according to Indian government data — but the country has a relatively small EV footprint, primarily captured by two-wheelers. The country plans to have 30% of all its automotive sales be electric by 2030, though.
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In 2016, Musk announced plans to launch Tesla’s Model 3 in India and teased its local Supercharger network. The company even took $1,000 deposits from its potential Indian customers, which it recently refunded as the launch was uncertain.
Musk has discussed Tesla’s plans several times in one-on-one meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his senior officials. During the first few years of negotiations, the Indian government sought to convince and even push Tesla to establish its factory in the country to initiate operations.
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