The starting price of the Model Y sold to Indians is 500,000 yuan.

Yesterday, the first Tesla showroom in India opened on the streets of Mumbai. This means that after 9 years, Elon Musk has finally managed to enter the Indian market.

However, this timing is quite delicate.

On the one hand, Musk has just had a falling - out with Trump, and the two are still at odds. On the other hand, Tesla is facing the risk of an overall decline in sales. Caught between two fires, Tesla is also trying to explore new growth opportunities.

The Indian market undoubtedly has great appeal, but in reality, Tesla's prices are not very friendly to most Indians.

The minimum starting price is equivalent to 500,000 Chinese Yuan.

01 The Indian electric vehicle market is still in its infancy

The Model Y in the Tesla India showroom was shipped all the way from the Gigafactory in Shanghai, China.

The rear - wheel drive Model Y is priced at 5.989 million Indian rupees, equivalent to about 500,000 Chinese Yuan, and the long - range rear - wheel drive Model Y is priced at 6.789 million Indian rupees, equivalent to 566,000 Chinese Yuan.

This pricing includes tariffs and additional taxes levied by the state. Coupled with various costs such as transportation and certification, after layer upon layer of addition, it results in the highest pricing in the world's major markets.

What kind of market does this price face?

Last year, India's per capita GDP was $2,696, while China's was about $13,400. The market share of electric vehicles also shows a huge gap. In 2024, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China reached 40.9%, while in India, electric vehicle sales only accounted for 4% of the total sales, and luxury car sales only accounted for 1% of the total sales.

In this market with a population of 1.4 billion, the new energy vehicle market is still in its early stages, and the price of the Model Y is not very attractive.

Currently, the motor vehicle market in India is still dominated by fuel - powered motorcycles. Even when it comes to new energy, it is mainly two - wheeled electric vehicles. Moreover, the charging infrastructure is very weak. Last year, the charging pile density in Delhi, the capital of India, was only 0.5 per square kilometer. In contrast, Shenzhen has a cumulative total of more than 420,000 charging piles, and the driving experience is worlds apart.

Indians will also vote with their feet, gradually forming a closed - loop: poor experience - refusal to buy cars - car companies on the sidelines - high initial car prices - further weakening the willingness to buy cars.

The local government certainly wants to promote industrial transformation, but in order to cultivate local enterprises, the dual - track tariff policy of "closing the door to beat the dog" has disappointed many enterprises.

In order to expand its business, Tesla once considered building a factory in India. The relationship between the two can be traced back to 2016. It is precisely because of the high - tariff issue that Tesla's plan to build a factory in India has been on hold. At present, it seems that for a long time in the future, Tesla will still sell cars in India through imports.

Actually, even if Tesla builds a factory in India, its prices will not be lower than those in China. The problem lies in the very weak foundation of India's new energy industry chain.

Taking key battery raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel as examples, India is heavily dependent on imports, and its mining capacity is also relatively weak. In June this year, the automobile factory in Gujarat, India, suddenly shut down. The reason is simple: there is no more Chinese rare earth.

China controls more than 90% of the world's rare - earth permanent magnet processing capacity. Once this supply chain is disrupted, there is a risk of the local electric vehicle industry in India coming to a halt. This is not an exaggeration at all.

Of course, Tesla has also realized these key issues. Isabel Fan, the regional director of Tesla, said at the press conference, "We are here to build an ecosystem and invest in the necessary infrastructure including charging facilities."

"We are building from scratch, and it will take time to cover the whole of (India)."

02 Personnel changes + new products and markets

On July 15, the Wall Street Journal reported that Troy Jones, the sales director of Tesla in North America, had left the company.

Less than a month ago, Omid Afshar, a senior assistant to Musk, left his position. He was previously responsible for overseeing all sales and manufacturing operations in North America and Europe.

At the beginning of June, during the new energy vehicle campaign in rural areas, Tesla also made its first foray into rural areas. In April, Tesla launched a lower - priced and simplified - configuration version of the Cybertruck.

Behind these news, there is a common reason - declining sales.

In the second quarter of this year, Tesla delivered 384,122 vehicles, a 13% decrease compared to the same period last year. Correspondingly, its performance in each region is not optimistic.

Data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association shows that Tesla's new car registrations in Europe in May were 13,863, compared with 19,227 in the same period last year, a year - on - year decline of 27.9%. Looking at the past five months, Tesla's registrations in the EU have plummeted from about 91,996 in the same period last year to 50,413, a year - on - year decline of 45.2%.

In April this year, Tesla sold 39,900 vehicles in the United States, a 20% decline from the previous month. In the first four months of 2025, Tesla sold about 174,000 vehicles in the United States, a 9.4% year - on - year decrease. Affected by its automotive business in Europe and the United States, Tesla's profit in the first quarter of this year plummeted by 71% year - on - year.

In the current situation, Tesla must find new markets. Although the Indian market has a weak foundation, its future prospects are always promising.

By 2030, India hopes that electric vehicles will account for 30% of the total sales of passenger cars. The British research company GlobalData once predicted that by 2030, the sales of pure electric vehicles (passenger cars) in India will exceed 1.04 million, about nine times that in 2024.

Currently, India is the world's third - largest automobile consumer market, and many Chinese car companies have already started to make efforts in India, such as SAIC MG and BYD.

At this time, Tesla's entry into India may be initially aimed at solving the problems of declining sales and over - capacity. In a broader sense, it may even reshape the global new energy market.

The future interests drive the current efforts. It remains to be seen how much success Tesla can achieve in this magical land of India.

This article is from the WeChat official account "SuperEV - Lab" (ID: SuperEV - Lab), author: Zai Zhou. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.