Tesla Will not Open a Factory in India if not First Allowed to Sell & Service Cars

Photo: Team-bhp

Tesla will not open a plant in India, like any other country, unless it is allowed to first sell and service cars there, Elon Musk said. The shortsightedness of the Indian government is hurting the widespread adoption of electric vehicles in the country, worsening the quality of life for its population.

Despite Tesla's titanic efforts in India, the country's government has not compromised. This assumes that the manufacturer will not officially sell cars there anytime soon, as the appropriate conditions for this are not created. India has made it clear that it does not intend to assist in reducing import duties on electric vehicles, which would help Tesla to study the demand; instead, the government has demanded the construction of a factory there.

Reports that Tesla has relocated its Indian team to other countries have now been reinforced by new information. The company's CEO, Elon Musk, said the company would not open a factory in a country where Tesla would not be allowed to sell and service vehicles. This statement gives a clear picture of the company's policy regarding the location of its manufacturing facilities.

Tesla will not put a manufacturing plant in any location where we are not allowed first to sell & service cars

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 27, 2022

Tesla and the Indian government have been trying to reach an understanding for more than two years now. The government is pushing Tesla to open a factory in the country so the latter can avoid high import duties. In Tesla's case, the duty is 100% of the car value, which is very high. This would not allow the manufacturer to study the demand and understand whether it is worthwhile to build a manufacturing plant, spending billions of dollars. Thus, at the moment, these relations have reached a dead-end from which there is no way out until one of the parties concedes to the other.

Although India is the world's second-largest car market, the government's reluctance to welcome Tesla has become a major stumbling block for the manufacturer to enter its market. There are a lot of countries in the world that are happy to welcome Tesla. Many states, in an effort to make their car market more carbon-neutral, have policies to encourage the purchase of EVs. In contrast, India's policies are discouraging the introduction of EVs and harming their population.

© 2022, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

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Article edited by @SmokeyShorts, you can follow him on Twitter

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