Tesla Starts Manufacturing of cars in Germany for Export to India

Sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, “The right-hand drive cars will be allocated for India. The company has started manufacturing them.” However, it is not known which model of Tesla will be exported to India. The Model Y is manufactured at the company’s plant near Berlin in Germany. Last month, the central government had announced a cut in import tax on the condition of EV companies making a minimum investment of $500 million and starting manufacturing within three years. This will benefit Tesla which had lobbied for a cut in import tax. However, the country’s automobile companies were opposing this exemption.

Tesla did not respond to an email seeking comment. Recently, a Financial Times report said that Tesla will focus on states like Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu for its factory where the automotive industry is already present. Due to declining demand in the company’s big markets like America and China, it is looking at possibilities in new markets. Tesla’s sales have declined by 8.5 percent in the first quarter of the current year.

This is the first time in almost four years that the company’s quarterly sales have declined on a year-on-year basis. This has increased apprehensions about Tesla’s growth. This company of billionaire Elon Musk has delivered 3,86,810 vehicles in the first quarter. Falling sales of electric vehicles worldwide and tough competition from EV makers like BYD are the main reasons behind this. In the same quarter last year, Tesla had sold about 4,23,000 units. The company had also reduced the prices of its EVs but despite this it has faced a decline in sales. This has also affected Tesla’s share price. The company’s shares have declined by about 30 percent this year.