Elon Musk: Tesla’s entry into the Indian market has some challenges

According to Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer of Tesla, the company is putting things in place to enter the Indian market. On Thursday, he gave the reason why the company is yet to enter the Indian market. He claims that the company is facing a lot of “interactions with the government”. This basically means that Tesla and the Indian government are yet to reach an agreement.

Musk had expected Tesla to hit the Indian market in 2019, but it still hadn’t happened three years later. Earlier on Thursday, Musk said in response to a user who asked via Twitter when Tesla vehicles would be available in the Indian market said, “still working through a lot of challenges with the government”

Indian government wants “Made In India” Tesla cars

Negotiations between Musk’s Tesla and the Indian government have been going on for years. However, talks have stalled over issues such as building a local factory and import duties. There are reports that India’s import tariffs are as high as 100%. The Indian government has also asked Tesla to increase purchases in the local market and submit detailed production plans. Musk has called for lower tariffs so Tesla can sell imported cars at lower prices in India, where consumption levels are lower.

In October, an Indian minister said he had asked Tesla to avoid selling imported cars in the Indian market. The minister also urges Tesla to build a local factory to make, sell, and export cars. Populous India is a very promising market for EV makers. However, the market still has a lot of cheap cars from the likes of Suzuki and Hyundai. These cars are mostly “Made in India” products.

Tesla will also face competition from other manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz in the Indian market. Mercedes-Benz announced on Wednesday that it will launch an electric version of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan, the EQS, in the Indian market by the fourth quarter of this year.

Elon Musk Predicts Global Financial Crisis

Recently, Musk issued a relatively pessimistic view on the economic situation in 2022. In other words, Elon Musk predicts that an economic crisis (or a financial crisis) will occur within a year. However, he didn’t get into details to explain why he thinks so and whether there will be something like a Great Recession or only something “ordinary”.

Interestingly, Musk made this comment under a tweet discussing global unicorn companies. The author posted a list of unicorns and asked how many unicorns will survive in 5 years. Musk’s answer reads that if history can be used as a reference, then not many people (companies) can survive the next recession.