Tesla India manufacturing likely

Tesla India manufacturing likely as the carmaker is in talks with component makers Germany’s Dräxlmaier Group and Italy’s Magneti Marelli to supply parts for it to facilitate production here in India. The process is in the final stages of discussion as part of a global contract.

Emails to Tesla, Dräxlmaier Group and Italy’s Magneti Marelli have been left unanswered till now. Tesla had committed to bring its Model 3 to India by summer 2017 and had also collected an advance booking amount of $1000 from several enthusiasts. It is imminent that the launch plans have been delayed but this development indicates that Tesla is at work on its India launch plans.

Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla had got the Indian rules on local sourcing wrong. He was misinformed that 30 percent of parts for EV components must be locally sourced for manufacturing and Tesla has not yet worked on its supply chain to support that. In response to this, officials at SIAM say mandatory local sourcing requirements do not exist for auto firms and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) does not mandate any such minimum sourcing of components by manufacturers.

It is only for retail trading of goods that sourcing conditions are mandated. India being the world’s fourth largest car market plans to go all-electric by 2030 and it is brands like Tesla that might help India to achieve this feat. Tesla too considers the Indian market to be a significant market especially after the Government of India’s announcement to go all-electric by the end of next decade.