Tesla opened its doors in India’s first showroom this week, with the earliest visitor being Vishal Gondal. But despite appearing on the first day, Gondal said he has no plans to buy Tesla now.
“I feel a little overwhelmed,” Gondal, founder and CEO of Fitness-Tech startup Goqii, said after visiting the first Maiden Tesla showroom in the Bandra-Kurla complex in Mumbai.
For much of the decade, Gondal has hope for Tesla’s debut in India. But his excitement made him feel painful when he had to chase a company refund in 2023 – sending multiple emails just to get a $1,000 booking fee.
“Trying to get the money back is a problem,” he told TechCrunch. “The joke is that if we invest that money in Tesla’s IPO stocks, we’ll make more money.”
Gondal was one of the earliest supporters of Tesla in India, the man who booked a car long before there was a guarantee. But nine years later, it seems that many early believers did not celebrate the launch, but made up their minds instead no Go with Tesla at least when it debuts.
These supporters never got the No. 3 model, and they paid the reservation fee for it shortly after Musk promised to launch the car in the country. There are also some like Gondal, even waiting and working hard to get a refund, while some get a refund in May, just a few months before Tesla’s official debut.
Varun Krishnan said: “It took so long to see Tesla. I mean, our government, processes and red carpets are hard, but even Starlink has already gained recognition in a shorter period, which is really shocking.
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Tesla did not invite these loyalists to visit its Mumbai showrooms, nor did it send them a press conference.
The 6,000-square-foot Tesla showroom is located at the Maker Maxity shopping center near Apple’s first store in the country. Still, Gondal said Tesla’s store is almost similar to that released by the Apple Store.
“When Apple launches their showrooms in the same place, the buzz that Apple can cause is a different world than the buzz that Tesla can create,” he said.
Gondal went to the Tesla showroom of the Audi E-Tron the previous year after he waited for the Model 3 for a long time.
“It feels like the coldest launch,” said Amit Bhawani, founder of the technology blog Phoneradar.
Bavani ended up receiving $1,000 refund after criticizing Tesla video Published on YouTube in 2020.
He said the video received comments from dozens of people who also retained the Model 3 in India and waited for a refund.
“At that time I felt that all my love for Tesla became a real hatred for Tesla.”
“The most unlikely Tesla could do is email everyone who keeps the car and say, ‘We’re going to have a special event for you,'” Gundal said. “Those people did go out of their way and while it could be said that it wasn’t a big deal, it said we support Tesla.”
Some others, such as Kawaljit Singh Bedi, have no regrets about their support for Tesla, although they received a refund before the release this year. Still, they don’t want to buy Tesla soon.
“I’ve been waiting for these years, and I’m not in a hurry to buy it now and be the first to own it because what’s the point? I’ve been waiting for nine years? I can wait for nine years and six months,” said Frammer AI’s co-founder and CTO.
“Most of them were disappointed in their vote of confidence, including, I know, Vishal and Vijay (Shekhar Sharma of Paytm),” Krishnan said. “People like Vishal or Vijay, they are brought with them a lot of authority. So if they buy something, there will be 100 people speaking.”
Sharma, founder and CEO of Indian fintech giant Paytm, responded to comments from other early supporters, telling TechCrunch that he would not go with Tesla and would rather wait for a larger car portfolio.
“It may be too late,” he said. “There are many other options, and the price value math is more suitable for India.”
The years-long delay of Tesla’s launch – not invited to the showroom’s opening room – disappointed the brand’s earliest Indian loyalists. Tesla Club IndiaThey also booked the Model 3 for 2016
“You paid for something, you were eagerly waiting for 10 years and then stood out, they just told you that we’re going to cancel it and then refund it, and then what happens – have been waiting for something for 10 years, will we get a favorable treatment?” he asked. “There is zero communication about this. So eight out of 10 retention holders are frustrated.”
Bhatt set up the club in 2019 with another Tesla enthusiast and Delhi University student Nikhil Chaudhary, an informal group of people interested in EV Carmaker. However, he told TechCrunch that the club has slowly changed from Tesla’s awareness club to electric vehicles and clean energy awareness club due to delays in Tesla’s launch in the country.
There is no clear clarity on after-sales and local supercharged networks
One of the concerns of many early Tesla supporters was the lack of clarity on how Tesla could build a booster network in the country and handle after-sales services. The company announced that it will build eight charging stations distributed in Delhi and Mumbai before delivery begins in the third quarter. However, it is not clear whether these are enough to provide adequate support for Tesla drivers in both cities. In addition, there are no announcements on how Tesla plans to handle after-sales service in India.
“In nine years, I’ve also become more cautious in my vehicle purchase process. I’m more worried about the actual things, not just the Tesla brand label, which I fell in love with 10 years ago,” said Fonearena’s Krishnan.
“There is no real excitement to own the first car because they know there is no supercharged network, either,” said Bedi of Frammer AI.
Musk’s political interest and even conflict with Trump have shut down some Indian drivers
Musk’s public roles have Had a shift – Polarized politicians from visionary entrepreneurs running multiple companies to the United States Influenced Tesla’s stock and business Not only in the United States, but also in major international markets. India seems to be no exception.
“After the whole election and politics and everything that happened, I can’t see Elon’s color the same as before,” said Krishnan of Fonearena.
Kunal Khattar, founder of the EV-focused investor in India and founder of VC AdvanteDge, agrees with Krishnan’s sentiment, saying Tesla lost “a little bit of glory” due to Musk’s political participation, consistency with Trump and subsequent public influence.
“People used to think that Tesla was saving the world, that it saved the climate, and that it no longer exists,” he said.
Qatar was invited to attend the Tesla launch in Mumbai. Like Goqii and others’ Gondal, he also described it as “unstoppable” and “unlike a typical vehicle launch.”
1% playground
Tesla has launched the Y-shaped model in India, starting at Rs 59,89,000 (about US$68,000). Some compare prices in India with those in the US model Y, which starts at $44,990 (Rs 38,71,000). However, automakers are importing cars from China instead of cars built locally in the country, which is often called a fully built (CBU). This plus Tesla will have to pay tariffs for a while until it decides to set up a local factory, so customers will have to pay high prices.
In India, the premium segment starts at Rs 35,00,000 (about US$40,700), up to Rs 1,000,000 (about US$116,200), accounting for only 1% of total car sales in India and about 50,000 vehicles. But, of those 1%, the share of electric vehicles is nearly 10% so far, according to the Puneet Gupta of S&P Global Mobility.
“With Tesla coming in, if Tesla does start manufacturing in India, maybe two years of production, then there is no doubt that this will allow all these OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) (including BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi) to build the first car for our Indian customers, which will make the first car for our Indian customers,” he said. “The problem is that India has never been able to convince these OEMs that can really make India-centric products and that it will have enough quantity.”
Overall, Indian electric vehicle sales accounted for only 2.5% of the total market in 2024. But that was “almost negligible” in 2016, when Tesla initially announced its entry. This is also the reason why people showed great interest in Tesla at that time.
“Everyone can get a beautiful, amazing, super powerful electric car in India these days. So Tesla is not worth it, except for 5-10 minutes, people should ask to see it inside,” said Bhawani of Phoneradar.
In recent years, India’s auto giant Tata Motors has dominated the country’s electric car market, although it recently signed a joint venture with Indian company JSW Group, including China’s MG Motor, which he is starting to compete.
Abhik Mukherjee is Abhik Mukherjee.
BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, Volvo and Hyundai and Kia all sit with Tesla bringing the Model Y to the country’s division.
“Tesla’s current price point is unlikely to cause any dents that the brand runs within that price range,” Mukherjee said.
Still, Tesla’s debut will likely attract customers’ attention to electric cars, while two-wheelers dominate the EV space.
“People will at least put electric cars in their consideration. Will Tesla sell a lot of cars? I don’t think so… Will Tesla increase sales to other electric car brands? I think,” said Khattar, founder of Advantedge.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
