Tesla CEO and co-founder Elon Musk has confirmed that the EV maker is entering India, one of the world’s top five auto markets.
In a response on Twitter to a story about preparations the company is making to enter the Indian market on early Thursday morning (Australia time), Musk said a simple, “As promised.”
It has been reported previously that India has the potential to become the world’s third largest electric vehicle market. While that report suggested this could happen by 2021, the entry of Tesla, which dominates electric vehicle markets in many of the markets it sells to, could accelerate this.
In a piece by Tesla blog Tesmanian, it was reported that Tesla is in talks with authorities in five Indian states to open stores, as well a headquarters, R&D centre and even possibly a factory.
As promised
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 13, 2021
According to Bloomberg, Tesla has already registered an Indian arm in preparation for its entry into India. It said a regulatory filing showed that the company registered Tesla India Motors and Energy Pvt. Ltd. with the Indian Registrar of Companies Bangalore.
Buzz about whether Tesla would soon make its range of electric cars available in India has abounded in recent months after Indian tourism and environment minister Aaditya Thackeray said in October via Twitter that he and industries minister Subhash Desai had participated in a call with Tesla to invite the company to Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital.
We are firmly committed to policy building and changes for sustainable development and I personally believe that electric mobility, supported by renewable energy is the way ahead. Let’s hope we can help this thought become mainstream soon
— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) October 22, 2020
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.