Gary Zhou 
Tesla is taking a couple of significant steps to secure a foothold in India, where the automaker has been rumored to be working for several months to create a presence.
With the majority of Tesla’s major developments in India occurring in the last few months, the electric car maker is now looking for retail locations in India’s major cities, according to a report published earlier today. Tesla’s “dealerships” are showrooms where company workers assist with test drives, product explanations, and order fulfillment. Tesla appears to be planning to open showrooms in three Indian cities: New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. Tesla’s growth in India has been attributed to all three cities.
New Delhi is the Indian capital and the country’s second-most populous city. In India, Delhi could be a big market for Tesla. Because of its large population, the city could be a good place for Tesla to attract employees and boost sales. The city has a population of approximately 11 million people.
Mumbai is India’s financial capital as well as the country’s most populous city. Mumbai has the largest concentration of millionaires and billionaires in India, and it is one of the top ten financial centers in the world.
Tesla is rumored to be establishing a manufacturing facility in Bengaluru, India. This is still a relatively speculative report, and there are no official documents that support or deny these allegations. Tesla, on the other hand, will open a showroom or retail location in the capital, further expanding the company’s presence in India’s major cities.
Tesla has engaged global property consultancy CBRE Group Inc to survey potential locations in order to gain access to wealthy buyers, according to Reuters. This will correspond to Tesla’s planned locations in New Delhi and Mumbai, two of the country’s most populous cities for financially sound individuals. Each location may be between 20,000 and 30,000 square feet in size, with enough space for showrooms and service centers.
In other Tesla India news, the company has employed Manuj Khurana, a former executive of India’s investment promotion organization Invest India, to lead its policy and business growth efforts. As Tesla makes further inroads into the Indian market, Khurana will lobby for the company and work to build relationships within the region.
Tesla has been hinting at a possible entry into India for many years. The facility, however, has been repeatedly postponed for unexplained reasons. Elon Musk, the company’s CEO, has previously hinted at an entry into India, but recent developments seem to suggest that Tesla will enter the market in the near future, aiming to expand the country’s relatively small EV market share. Just 5,000 total electric vehicle sales were reported in India last year, a small fraction of the 2.4 million electric vehicles sold worldwide. However, the existence of an inexpensive and well-supported EV manufacturer like Tesla could radically alter these figures. A domestic manufacturing plant will protect Indian car buyers from import taxes, which have plagued customer wallets for years, nearly doubling the cost of a vehicle.
