Tesla’s Entry Into India “Does Not Worry” Mercedes-Benz

Tesla Mode3

Mercedes-Benz’s India Head Martin Schwenk said that the debut of Tesla in the domestic market will only consolidate the position of green cars

Mercedes-Benz is the current leader of the luxury car space domestically and despite the steep decline in volume sales in that particular category, the brand continued its status at the top in the Calendar Year 2020 ahead of BMW, Audi, Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo and Lexus. Speculations surrounding the arrival of Hyundai’s Genesis luxury brand to India have been there for long, as does the debut of Tesla.

The most valuable car brand has certainly been a difference maker in the personal mobility space in the development markets with its range of electric cars and the technological advancements along with the build quality aspects and connectivity have made the American company what it is today. With Tesla finally all set to step foot into India, it has registered its office at Bengaluru.

There is no secret that Tesla Inc has grabbed a sizeable chunk of the luxury car market in many countries and Mercedes-Benz “does not worry” about its entry into India as it reckons it will help in consolidating the position of electric cars. Merc’s Martin Schwenk said that his company’s business is on a strong footing domestically, on the back of a slew of new launches being planned.

2021 Tesla Model 3 interior

He stated in an interview: “Entry of any new brand creates additional interest and additional markets.” The debut of Tesla in India has been rumoured since the launch of the Model 3, the brand’s entry-level model. Elon Musk has often been vocal about his intentions to bring Tesla to India and even a gigafactory was considered before switching the plans elsewhere.

A few weeks ago, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari confirmed that Tesla will commence operations this year locally and it may include setting up a production facility. We do expect the initial lot of Tesla cars to be imported from abroad and observing the demand, the company may consider assembling the models locally. The low GST rate and tax relaxations in India could come in handy while purchasing the zero-emission vehicles.

Tesla is currently formulating plans to enter India and it could partner a domestic manufacturer instead of setting up its own manufacturing base.

SOURCEsource