The rumors about Tesla entering the Indian market have been afloat for about half a decade now. Yet, it always went under the radar for some reason or the other. Elon Musk had himself showed interest on entering the Indian market several times on Twitter. Now, we finally seem to have some clarity about Tesla's plans for India. According to a new report by ET Auto, Tesla is now prepping to enter the Indian market as soon as January 2021.
According to the report, Tesla will be making their debut in India with the Model 3, one of the company's best selling products and a obvious choice for the Indian market. The report stated that Tesla will be opening pre-bookings for the Model 3 in India from January itself and deliveries for the car could start as early as the end of Q1 of 2021.
"According to sources privy to the matter, the world's most valued automobile corporation by market cap has sealed plans to resume bookings next month and start delivery by the end of the first quarter of 2021-22,"
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It must be noted that this is not the first time that Tesla will be opening bookings for the Model 3 in India. It was in 2016 when Elon Musk had first announced his plans of entering the Indian market and had even opened pre-bookings for the Model 3 in India. A few high-profile customers had even booked the car back then but it remains unclear how those prior bookings will be dealt with now. It was again in October 2020 that Musk tweeted about Tesla coming to India in 2021.
Tesla has even explored the option of opening an R&D centre and a battery manufacturing facility in India. As for the Tesla Model 3, it could be coming to India as a full import, possibly from China, and will likely be sold in India through an online platform. Tesla will not be selling their cars via dealerships in India. According to the report by ET Auto, the Tesla Model 3 could be priced at around INR 55 lakh in India. There has however been no official confirmation from the company as of yet.
The Tesla Model 3 has a driving range of up to 500km, more than any EV currently on sale in India. It can sprint from 0-100 kph in just 3.1 seconds and has a electronically limited top-speed of 162kph. Tesla is currently one of the world's most valuable automotive company with their best selling models being the Tesla Model 3 and the Tesla Model Y. With Tesla coming into the Indian market, it could give a huge boost to the EV infrastructure in the country.
Stay tuned to IndianAutosBlog for more updates on Tesla and the latest four-wheeler news.
[News Source - ET Auto]
