Tesla loses its charm for India's loyalists — even as Musk finally delivers

Yahoo

6 days ago

Tesla opened the doors to its first showroom in India this week, and among the first visitors was Vishal Gondal — a longtime Tesla and Elon Musk loyalist who pre-booked a Model 3 in April 2016, just hours after reservations went live. But despite showing up on day one, Gondal says he has no plans to buy a Tesla now.
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'I felt a little bit underwhelmed,' said Gondal, founder and CEO of fitness-tech startup GOQii, after visiting the maiden Tesla showroom in Mumbai's Bandra-Kurla Complex.
Over the better part of a decade, Gondal held out hope for Tesla's debut in India. But his excitement soured when he had to chase the company for a refund in 2023 — sending multiple emails just to get his $1,000 reservation fee.
'Trying to get the money back was a problem,' he told TechCrunch. 'And the joke was, had we invested that money in Tesla IPO stock, we would have made more money.'
Gondal is among the earliest backers of Tesla in India — someone who pre-booked a vehicle long before there were any guarantees. But nine years on, it seems many of those early believers are not celebrating the launch and have instead made up their mind not to go with Tesla, at least on its debut.
Those backers never got their Model 3s, for which they paid the reservation fee soon after Musk promised to launch the car in the country. And some, like Gondal, even waited and tried hard for years to get the refund, while some got it in May, just a couple of months before Tesla's formal debut.
'It is frustrating to see Tesla take so long. I mean, our government and processes and red carpet are hard, but it's hilarious that even Starlink has gotten approval in a shorter period,' said Varun Krishnan, who runs tech blog FoneArena from Chennai and is also one of Tesla's early backers in India.
Tesla did not invite these loyalists to visit its Mumbai showroom, nor did it give them an update on the launch.
The 6,000-square-foot Tesla showroom is located in Maker Maxity Mall, near Apple's first store in the country. Nonetheless, Gondal said Tesla's store was nowhere near similar to that of the Apple store launch.
'When Apple launched their showroom in the same place, the buzz that Apple was able to create versus the buzz that Tesla was able to create, there is a world of difference,' he said.
Gondal went to the Tesla showroom in his Audi e-Tron, which he had bought the previous year, after waiting a long time for the Model 3.
'This felt like the coldest launch,' said Amit Bhavani, founder of tech blog Phoneradar, who also pre-reserved the Model 3 in 2016.
Bhavani eventually got the $1,000 refund after criticizing Tesla in a video released on YouTube in 2020.
The video received comments from dozens of people who had also reserved the Model 3 in India and were waiting for a refund, he said.
'That's when I felt that the whole love for Tesla became a real hatred for Tesla,' he told TechCrunch.
'The least Tesla could have done was email all the people who reserved the car earlier and said, 'Guys, we are going to have a special event for you',' Gondal said. 'Those people really went out of their way, and even though let's say it's not a big amount, it was saying that we support Tesla.'
Some others, like Kawaljit Singh Bedi, said they have no regrets about supporting Tesla, although they received the refund just before the launch this year. Nevertheless, they are also not looking to buy a Tesla soon.
'After all these years I have waited, I'm in no hurry to buy it now and become the first one to have it, because what's the point? I waited nine years? I can wait nine years and six months more,' said Singh, co-founder and CTO of Frammer AI.
'Most of them who had put in their early vote of confidence are disappointed, including, I know, Vishal and Vijay [Shekhar Sharma of Paytm],' said Krishnan. 'People like Vishal or Vijay, they are taken with a lot of authority. So, if they are buying something, there would be 100 people going by their word.'
Sharma, founder and CEO of Indian fintech giant Paytm, echoed comments from other early backers, telling TechCrunch that he would not go with Tesla and would rather wait for a larger portfolio of cars.
'It may be a bit too late,' he said. 'There are so many other options with price-value math more suited for India.'
The years-long delay in Tesla's launch — along with not being invited to the showroom opening — has left some of the brand's earliest Indian loyalists feeling let down, said Arun Bhatt, founder of Tesla Club India, who also pre-booked a Model 3 in 2016
'You paid something and you ardently waited for 10 years, and then out of the blue, they just tell you, we'll cancel it and we'll refund, then what happens — 10 years having waited for something, will we be given preferential treatment?' he questioned. 'There's zero communication regarding that. So, eight out of 10 reservation holders are frustrated.'
Bhatt started the club with another Tesla enthusiast and Delhi University student, Nikhil Chaudhary, in 2019 as an informal group for people having an interest in the EV carmaker. However, he told TechCrunch that due to the delay in Tesla's launch in the country, the club has slowly changed from a Tesla awareness club to an EV and clean energy awareness club.
No clarity on after-sales and local Supercharger network
One of the concerns that many Tesla early backers have is the lack of clarity on how Tesla will set up the Supercharger network in the country and handle after-sales care. The company announced that it would establish eight charging stations, equally distributed across Delhi and Mumbai, before starting its deliveries in Q3. However, it is unclear whether these will be sufficient to provide enough backing to Tesla drivers in these two cities. Additionally, there are no announcements regarding how Tesla plans to handle after-sales service of its cars in India.
'Having gotten older in nine years, I've also gotten more prudent in my vehicle purchase process. I'm more worried about practical things than just the Tesla brand tag, which I fell in love with 10 years ago,' said Krishnan of FoneArena.
'There is no real excitement to own the first car, knowing that there is no Supercharger network also,' Kawaljit of Frammer AI said.
Musk's political interest and even clash with Trump are turning off some Indian drivers
In recent months, Musk's public persona has undergone a shift — from a visionary entrepreneur running multiple companies to a polarizing political figure in the U.S. This transformation has impacted Tesla's stock and business not only in America but also in key international markets. India appears to be no exception.
'After the whole elections and the politics, and whatever is happening, I don't see Elon with the same colors as what I used to,' FoneArena's Krishnan said.
Kunal Khattar, an EV-focused investor in India and founder of VC firm AdvantEdge Founders, echoed Krishnan's sentiment, saying Tesla has lost 'a little bit of its shine' due to several factors — including Musk's political involvement, his alignment with Trump, and the public fallout that followed.
'People used to think Tesla is saving the world, it's saving the climate, and this and that, it's no longer there,' he said.
Khattar was invited to the Tesla launch in Mumbai. Just like Gondal of GOQii and others, he also described it as 'underwhelming' and 'not like a typical vehicle launch.'
The 1% playground
Tesla has launched the Model Y in India, starting at ₹59,89,000 (approximately $68,000). Some compare the India pricing with that of the Model Y in the U.S., which begins at $44,990 (₹38,71,000). However, the carmaker is importing the car from China — rather than manufacturing it locally in the country — something that the industry commonly refers to as a Completely Built-Up (CBU). This adds up to tariffs that Tesla is set to pay for some time, until it decides to set up a local factory, and thus, customers will have to pay an exorbitant price.
In India, the premium segment, which starts from ₹35,00,000 (approximately $40,700) and goes up to ₹1,00,00,000 (approximately $116,200), comprises just 1% of the total car sales in India, roughly 50,000 vehicles. However, in that 1%, electric cars have almost a 10% share so far, per Puneet Gupta, director, S&P Global Mobility.
'With Tesla coming in, and if Tesla really starts manufacturing in India, maybe two years down the line, there is no doubt about it that it will make a strong case for all these OEMs [original equipment manufacturers], including BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi, to make a vehicle for our Indian customer for the first time,' he said. 'The problem is that India has never been able to convince these OEMs that they can really make an India-centric product, and it will have sufficient volumes.'
Overall, electric car sales in India accounted for just 2.5% of the total market in 2024, per Counterpoint. But it was 'almost negligible' in 2016, when Tesla initially announced its entry. This was also the reason why people showed a lot of interest in Tesla back then.
'These days, everyone can get a beautiful, amazing, super powerful electric vehicle in India. So, Tesla is not something 'wow' worthy, except for 5-10 minutes, people should ask to just take a look inside it,' Bhawani of PhoneRadar said.
India's automobile giant Tata Motors has dominated the country's electric car market in recent years, though others — including China's MG Motor, which recently signed a joint venture with Indian conglomerate JSW Group — are starting to gain ground.
The premium segment remains niche in the country, though the increasing number of high-net-worth individuals has led to a 66 percent year-over-year rise in the sales of premium EVs during the first five months of 2025, Abhik Mukherjee, a research analyst for automotive and IoT at Counterpoint, told TechCrunch.
BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, Volvo, and select models from Hyundai and Kia are sitting in the segment where Tesla has brought the Model Y to the country.
'Tesla's current price point is unlikely to cause any dent to the brands operating within that price range,' Mukherjee said.
Nonetheless, Tesla's debut is likely to draw some customer attention to electric cars in a market where two-wheelers dominate the EV space.
'People will at least put EVs in their consideration set. Will Tesla sell a lot of cars? I don't think so … Will Tesla increase the sales of other EV brands? I think so,' Khattar of AdvantEdge Founders said.