Selling In The US And Europe, Tesla Is Actually Battered In India

JAKARTA - Tesla's sales can sell well in Europe, the United States, and China. In India, the conditions are quite different. It can be said that Tesla was "bloody" when selling electric cars in the country of cari.

Electreck reported, Sunday, November 30, that Tesla has only managed to sell as many as 100 electric cars since they first entered India in July 2025. This figure is very small, especially considering that India is now the country with the largest population in the world, nearly 1.5 billion people.

Small sales have had a wide impact on Tesla in India. Several important Tesla India officials resigned from Tesla India's head of operations to other executives.

When compared to India's overall electric car market, this figure does look a little more reasonable. It's just that when compared to Tesla in other countries, this figure is very sad," wrote Electreck.

Meanwhile, EV sales from other brands showed strong growth. India's automotive market grew about 13 percent this year, while electric car sales jumped 57 percent, far beyond the overall growth of the automotive industry.

The growth was largely driven by the Chinese brand which controls about a third of EV share with a total of about 60,000 units sold this year. In luxury segments, EVs from Germany such as Mercedes, BMW, and Audi managed to record around 4,000 units, a number that far surpassed Tesla's sales in India.

This condition is certainly concerning for Tesla considering that they came to India with a difficult process. For several years, when Tesla tried to enter the Indian market, various protectionist policies made it difficult to realize this step.

The situation did change in March this year when the Indian government removed import duty on electric vehicles, opening up opportunities for foreign manufacturers to sell their electric cars in the country. The policy makes India open to brands from China, Germany, Korea, and America, including Tesla, although the country also has strong local players such as Mahindra and Tata.

It's just that everything is still not easy for Tesla. It is believed that the price problem is a big factor for the Indian people not to be interested in Tesla.

Tesla is classified as a luxury car in India because import costs make the price soar. Model Y, which is sold for around US$40,000 in the United States, is up about US$67,000 in India. This price is far beyond the reach of most Indian consumers, given that only about 1 percent of car sales in the country are in the luxury category.

The development of electric vehicle infrastructure is also still a challenge. Tesla only has one Supercharger in India, with two other locations still in the 'coming soon' status in the Gurugram area. Although there are thousands of other charging points throughout India and users can still charge at home, this number is still small compared to the needs of large-population countries.