Tesla opened the doorways to its first showroom in India this week, and among the many first guests was Vishal Gondal — a longtime Tesla and Elon Musk loyalist who pre-booked a Mannequin 3 in April 2016, simply hours after reservations went reside. However regardless of exhibiting up on day one, Gondal says he has no plans to purchase a Tesla now.
“I felt a little bit underwhelmed,” stated Gondal, founder and CEO of fitness-tech startup GOQii, after visiting the maiden Tesla showroom in Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Advanced.
Over the higher a part of a decade, Gondal held out hope for Tesla’s debut in India. However his pleasure soured when he needed to chase the corporate for a refund in 2023 — sending a number of emails simply to get his $1,000 reservation price.
“Trying to get the money back was a problem,” he advised TechCrunch. “And the joke was, had we invested that money in Tesla IPO stock, we would have made more money.”
Gondal is among the many earliest backers of Tesla in India — somebody who pre-booked a car lengthy earlier than there have been any ensures. However 9 years on, it appears a lot of these early believers should not celebrating the launch and have as an alternative made up their thoughts not to go together with Tesla, at the very least on its debut.
These backers by no means obtained their Mannequin 3s, for which they paid the reservation price quickly after Musk promised to launch the automobile within the nation. And a few, like Gondal, even waited and tried arduous for years to get the refund, whereas some obtained it in Might, simply a few months earlier than Tesla’s formal debut.
“It is frustrating to see Tesla take so long. I mean, our government and processes and red carpet are hard, but it’s hilarious that even Starlink has gotten approval in a shorter period,” stated Varun Krishnan, who runs tech weblog FoneArena from Chennai and can be considered one of Tesla’s early backers in India.
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Tesla didn’t invite these loyalists to go to its Mumbai showroom, nor did it give them an replace on the launch.
The 6,000-square-foot Tesla showroom is situated in Maker Maxity Mall, close to Apple’s first retailer within the nation. Nonetheless, Gondal stated Tesla’s retailer was nowhere close to just like that of the Apple retailer launch.
“When Apple launched their showroom in the same place, the buzz that Apple was able to create versus the buzz that Tesla was able to create, there is a world of difference,” he stated.
Gondal went to the Tesla showroom in his Audi e-Tron, which he had purchased the earlier 12 months, after ready a very long time for the Mannequin 3.
“This felt like the coldest launch,” stated Amit Bhavani, founding father of tech weblog Phoneradar, who additionally pre-reserved the Mannequin 3 in 2016.
Bhavani ultimately obtained the $1,000 refund after criticizing Tesla in a video launched on YouTube in 2020.
The video acquired feedback from dozens of people that had additionally reserved the Mannequin 3 in India and had been ready for a refund, he stated.
“That’s when I felt that the whole love for Tesla became a real hatred for Tesla,” he advised TechCrunch.
“The least Tesla could have done was email all the people who reserved the car earlier and said, ‘Guys, we are going to have a special event for you’,” Gondal stated. “Those people really went out of their way, and even though let’s say it’s not a big amount, it was saying that we support Tesla.”
Some others, like Kawaljit Singh Bedi, stated they haven’t any regrets about supporting Tesla, though they acquired the refund simply earlier than the launch this 12 months. Nonetheless, they’re additionally not seeking to purchase a Tesla quickly.
“After all these years I have waited, I’m in no hurry to buy it now and become the first one to have it, because what’s the point? I waited nine years? I can wait nine years and six months more,” stated Singh, co-founder and CTO of Frammer AI.
“Most of them who had put in their early vote of confidence are disappointed, including, I know, Vishal and Vijay [Shekhar Sharma of Paytm],” stated Krishnan. “People like Vishal or Vijay, they are taken with a lot of authority. So, if they are buying something, there would be 100 people going by their word.”
Sharma, founder and CEO of Indian fintech large Paytm, echoed feedback from different early backers, telling TechCrunch that he wouldn’t go together with Tesla and would slightly wait for a bigger portfolio of vehicles.
“It may be a bit too late,” he stated. “There are so many other options with price-value math more suited for India.”
The years-long delay in Tesla’s launch — together with not being invited to the showroom opening — has left a number of the model’s earliest Indian loyalists feeling let down, stated Arun Bhatt, founding father of Tesla Membership India, who additionally pre-booked a Mannequin 3 in 2016
“You paid something and you ardently waited for 10 years, and then out of the blue, they just tell you, we’ll cancel it and we’ll refund, then what happens — 10 years having waited for something, will we be given preferential treatment?” he questioned. “There’s zero communication regarding that. So, eight out of 10 reservation holders are frustrated.”
Bhatt began the membership with one other Tesla fanatic and Delhi College pupil, Nikhil Chaudhary, in 2019 as an off-the-cuff group for individuals having an curiosity within the EV carmaker. Nonetheless, he advised TechCrunch that as a result of delay in Tesla’s launch within the nation, the membership has slowly modified from a Tesla consciousness membership to an EV and clear power consciousness membership.
No readability on after-sales and native Supercharger community
One of many considerations that many Tesla early backers have is the dearth of readability on how Tesla will arrange the Supercharger community within the nation and deal with after-sales care. The corporate introduced that it could set up eight charging stations, equally distributed throughout Delhi and Mumbai, earlier than beginning its deliveries in Q3. Nonetheless, it’s unclear whether or not these can be ample to supply sufficient backing to Tesla drivers in these two cities. Moreover, there are not any bulletins relating to how Tesla plans to deal with after-sales service of its vehicles in India.
“Having gotten older in nine years, I’ve also gotten more prudent in my vehicle purchase process. I’m more worried about practical things than just the Tesla brand tag, which I fell in love with 10 years ago,” stated Krishnan of FoneArena.
“There is no real excitement to own the first car, knowing that there is no Supercharger network also,” Kawaljit of Frammer AI stated.
Musk’s political curiosity and even conflict with Trump are turning off some Indian drivers
In latest months, Musk’s public persona has undergone a shift — from a visionary entrepreneur working a number of firms to a polarizing political determine within the U.S. This transformation has impacted Tesla’s inventory and enterprise not solely in America but additionally in key worldwide markets. India seems to be no exception.
“After the whole elections and the politics, and whatever is happening, I don’t see Elon with the same colors as what I used to,” FoneArena’s Krishnan stated.
Kunal Khattar, an EV-focused investor in India and founding father of VC agency AdvantEdge Founders, echoed Krishnan’s sentiment, saying Tesla has misplaced “a little bit of its shine” attributable to a number of components — together with Musk’s political involvement, his alignment with Trump, and the general public fallout that adopted.
“People used to think Tesla is saving the world, it’s saving the climate, and this and that, it’s no longer there,” he stated.
Khattar was invited to the Tesla launch in Mumbai. Similar to Gondal of GOQii and others, he additionally described it as “underwhelming” and “not like a typical vehicle launch.”
The 1% playground
Tesla has launched the Mannequin Y in India, beginning at ₹59,89,000 (roughly $68,000). Some examine the India pricing with that of the Mannequin Y within the U.S., which begins at $44,990 (₹38,71,000). Nonetheless, the carmaker is importing the automobile from China — slightly than manufacturing it domestically within the nation — one thing that the trade generally refers to as a Utterly Constructed-Up (CBU). This provides as much as tariffs that Tesla is ready to pay for a while, till it decides to arrange an area manufacturing unit, and thus, prospects should pay an exorbitant worth.
In India, the premium phase, which begins from ₹35,00,000 (roughly $40,700) and goes as much as ₹1,00,00,000 (roughly $116,200), includes simply 1% of the overall automobile gross sales in India, roughly 50,000 autos. Nonetheless, in that 1%, electrical vehicles have nearly a ten% share to this point, per Puneet Gupta, director, S&P International Mobility.
“With Tesla coming in, and if Tesla really starts manufacturing in India, maybe two years down the line, there is no doubt about it that it will make a strong case for all these OEMs [original equipment manufacturers], including BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi, to make a vehicle for our Indian customer for the first time,” he stated. “The problem is that India has never been able to convince these OEMs that they can really make an India-centric product, and it will have sufficient volumes.”
General, electrical automobile gross sales in India accounted for simply 2.5% of the overall market in 2024, per Counterpoint. Nevertheless it was “almost negligible” in 2016, when Tesla initially introduced its entry. This was additionally the rationale why individuals confirmed plenty of curiosity in Tesla again then.
“These days, everyone can get a beautiful, amazing, super powerful electric vehicle in India. So, Tesla is not something ‘wow’ worthy, except for 5-10 minutes, people should ask to just take a look inside it,” Bhawani of PhoneRadar stated.
India’s vehicle large Tata Motors has dominated the nation’s electrical automobile market in recent times, although others — together with China’s MG Motor, which just lately signed a three way partnership with Indian conglomerate JSW Group — are beginning to achieve floor.
The premium phase stays area of interest within the nation, although the rising variety of high-net-worth people has led to a 66 p.c year-over-year rise within the gross sales of premium EVs in the course of the first 5 months of 2025, Abhik Mukherjee, a analysis analyst for automotive and IoT at Counterpoint, advised TechCrunch.
BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, Volvo, and choose fashions from Hyundai and Kia are sitting within the phase the place Tesla has introduced the Mannequin Y to the nation.
“Tesla’s current price point is unlikely to cause any dent to the brands operating within that price range,” Mukherjee stated.
Nonetheless, Tesla’s debut is probably going to attract some buyer consideration to electrical vehicles in a market the place two-wheelers dominate the EV area.
“People will at least put EVs in their consideration set. Will Tesla sell a lot of cars? I don’t think so … Will Tesla increase the sales of other EV brands? I think so,” Khattar of AdvantEdge Founders stated.
