Tesla Inc. urges the Prime Minister’s Office before it enters the market to reduce import taxes on electric vehicles. This year Tesla wishes to begin selling imported cars to India but says taxes are among the highest in the world in India. In July, it requested tax cuts, which drew objections from a number of local stakeholders who argued that they would deter investment in domestic manufacturing.
India levies an import liability of 60% on electric cars that cost $40,000 or less, and 100% on these prices of over $40,000. Tesla has also separately requested a meeting between its CEO Elon Musk and PM Modi. According to the analysts, if Tesla vehicles continue to be priced this high, customers would find them unaffordable and their sales will be limited.
Earlier this month, the transport minister suggested that Tesla should not push Chinese-language automobiles made in India as an alternative to domestic manufacturing; nevertheless, Tesla has indicated that it needs to experiment with first imports. Musk told Twitter in July that ‘if Tesla is willing to succeed in importing cars, it is likely to establish a production operation in India.’
A few weeks earlier in September, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had given Tesla the go-ahead to manufacture or import its vehicle models into India. Tesla’s vehicles have been approved for safety and roadworthiness in India by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Model 3 variations of Tesla and Model Y could come to India.
In order to ensure purchasers get a “substantial discount” while switching from ICE vehicles to electric cars, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has handed the buck over to EV manufacturers. Many people are questioning if Tesla’s request to lower import duties on electric vehicles should be granted by the Centre in order to make them more accessible to the public.
EV manufacturers should offer large discounts to EV consumers who scrapped their old IC engine vehicles, according to Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.
Tesla Model Y sales peaked in August with 790 registrations in less than a week after its debut. With its initial deliveries in many EU territories, including Germany, Belgium, and Norway, Tesla began its Model Y invasions in Europe.
At the end of the second quarter of 2021, the Tesla Model 3 had achieved 1,031,588 worldwide deliveries. Model 3 is the first electric car with a cumulative sales of 1 million. In July, the Y Model Tesla sold a total of 250,000 and by the end of the year might reach 500,000.