US electric carmaker Tesla has signed a lease deal to open its first showroom in Mumbai, moving closer to its goal of selling imported cars in India. The five-year lease agreement, valued at over $2.5 million, includes a rent of about $446,000 for the first year.
The showroom will be located in the Maker Maxity building in Bandra Kurla Complex, near the city’s airport. Tesla plans to sell imported cars from its India showrooms despite tariffs of over 100% still weighing on the company.
Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, has repeatedly complained about these high tariffs and has found support from US President Donald Trump, who has threatened reciprocal action. The US wants India to eliminate tariffs on car imports under a proposed trade deal, but New Delhi is reluctant to bring down such duties immediately.
Tesla posted close to two dozen mid-level jobs in India earlier this year, including store, service, and customer relationship managers. The company’s move towards selling imported cars in India comes after it dropped similar plans last year.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-signs-deal-first-india-showroom-sell-imported-evs-2025-03-05