According to emails obtained by Bloomberg News, Tesla Inc.’s India office is returning early buyers of its Model 3, which has led to conjecture that the US electric vehicle manufacturer is getting close to launching in the third-largest car market in the world.
Customers who had booked these reservations back in 2016 received emails that said, “We would like to return your reservation fee for the time being”.” We will reenter the market once we have completed our services in India. When we are prepared to launch and deliver in your nation, we want to see you again.
Since the earlier Model 3 version is being discontinued, the Elon Musk-led automaker is returning reservations made years ago.
Musk stated in a post on X a few days ago that he will travel to India later this year, when the country is negotiating a trade agreement with the US that would include reducing auto tariffs.
Long-term plans for Tesla are probably going to change with a more advantageous tariff structure. For the first time in over ten years, its global car deliveries decreased last year, and BYD Co. remains a formidable opponent.
Outside of Indian business hours, an email sent to Tesla’s APAC headquarters was not immediately responded to.
Teslas on the road might appeal to India’s growing upper-middle class, but they run the danger of harming local automakers who have thousands of workers in their factories.
