In October Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed on Twitter his company’s plans to finally allow customers in India to place orders, “probably in [January].” That confirmation followed a previous statement just days earlier where Musk said Tesla was expanding to India “next year for sure.”
It looks like Musk is staying true to his word as a report out of India is reporting the automaker will open up orders in the country next month. According to sources familiar with the plans, the first orders will begin deliveries by the end of Q1 2021.
The news has been a long time coming for hopeful Tesla owners in the country. Expansions plans have been delayed for many years due to “challenging government regulations”, according to Musk. Another barrier mentioned by the CEO are the high import duties, which he said in 2019 could double the cost of the vehicle.
I’m told import duties are extremely high (up to 100%), even for electric cars. This would make our cars unaffordable.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 1, 2019
According to the report, the Model 3 will be priced at INR 55-60 lakh, which converts to about $96,000-$104,000 CAD. While the report didn’t specify which variant that is, we are assuming it to be the Standard Range Plus (SR+), which sells for half that amount in Canada, $52,990.
Source: The Economic Times
