Elon Musk led Tesla has taken a significant step towards entering the Indian market by signing a lease agreement to open its first showroom in Mumbai. The company plans to sell imported electric cars in the country, Reuters report quoted registration documents.
Earlier, Reuters reported that the EV maker had selected locations for two showrooms in New Delhi and Mumbai, days after the carmaker’s chief, Elon Musk, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the US.
Recently, Tesla has posted nearly two dozen mid-level job openings in India, including positions for store managers, service managers, and customer relationship managers.
Notably, Tesla aims to sell imported vehicles in its Indian showrooms, but the company faces significant tariffs exceeding 100%. However, Elon Musk has criticized these tariffs as being among the highest globally. Moreover, Musk has the back of the US President Donald Trump. Trump has repeatedly railed against India’s high taxes, especially on automobiles. Moreover, he has also threatened reciprocal action.
The United States is pushing India to scrap tariffs on imported cars as part of a proposed trade agreement between the two countries. However, India is hesitant to immediately drop these tariffs to zero.
Elon Musk Brings Tesla To India: First Showroom Details
According to the Reuters report, Tesla has secured a five-year lease starting February 16, 2025, for a 4,003-square-foot showroom space (approximately 372 square meters) and will pay around $446,000 (Rs 3.88 crores) in rent for the first year.
The lease will see a 5% annual rent increase, resulting in a total expenditure of over $2.5 million for the five-year period, as per the registered lease document obtained by Reuters.
This showroom will be situated in the Maker Maxity building in the business and retail hub of Bandra Kurla Complex near the city’s airport, said the report.
