South Korean media: "Despite India's olive branch, Tesla does not want to produce in India"!
On June 22nd, South Korean media NEWSPIM published an article stating that according to reports, the Indian government has formulated policies such as reducing tariffs in order to attract overseas auto companies to produce electric vehicles in India, but Tesla has shown no interest.
The Heavy Industry Department of India announced the detailed guidelines for the "Electric Passenger Vehicle Manufacturing Promotion Plan" last March, aiming to encourage foreign auto manufacturers to invest in India.
The content is that if foreign enterprises invest more than 41.5 billion rupees (approximately 3.489 billion RMB), the tariff for high-end electric vehicles with a price above $35,000 will be significantly reduced from the current maximum of 100% to 15% for five years, with an upper limit of 8,000 units.
However, this plan only applies to global manufacturers with at least 1 billion rupees in annual turnover and at least 300 million rupees in fixed assets. In addition, these companies must establish manufacturing plants in India and fully commence operations within three years after approval, and they must use a certain proportion of local components.
The Indian government is expected to start accepting investment applications from foreign auto companies as early as this month.
This policy was initially aimed at Tesla, which had requested a reduction in import tariffs for electric vehicles in exchange for building a factory in India.
Tesla has yet to enter India, the world's third-largest automobile market. Last April, it was reported that Tesla CEO Elon Musk would personally visit India and meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce plans to invest $2 to 3 billion to build an electric vehicle factory, but Musk suddenly canceled the trip.
At that time, Tesla requested that the import tariff for complete electric vehicles priced below $40,000 be reduced from 60% to 40%, but the Indian government showed dissatisfaction. It was analyzed that Tesla also failed to enter India due to sluggish sales in places like China.
Although the detailed guidelines for reducing import tariffs for electric vehicles have been finally determined, it remains unclear whether Tesla will invest in India.
India's Minister of Heavy Industries Kumaraswami said that Tesla is not interested in manufacturing in India and is only considering opening two galleries. He stated, "Global electric vehicle manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Skoda, Hyundai, and Kia have expressed interest in supporting the plan announced last March, but we do not expect Tesla's involvement."
Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1835617434220608/
Disclaimer: This article represents the views of the author alone.