Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment [File]
|Photo source: Reuters
U.S. electric car maker Tesla has signed a lease agreement to open its first showroom in Mumbai as it aims to sell imported cars in India after the company developed a similar plan last year.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company has signed a five-year lease from February 16, 2025, with rents for the first year of about $446,000, covering 4,003 square feet (372 square meters) and almost the size of a basketball court, the documents show.
Rents will increase by 5% annually, with a total cost of more than $2.5 million, according to a registered lease document provided by analytics firm CRE Matrix to Reuters.
According to newspapers, the showroom will be located in the Maker Maxity building in the commercial and retail center near the Bandra Kurla complex.
Reuters reported last month that Tesla’s automaker head Elon Musk chose locations in two showrooms in New Delhi and Mumbai a few days later, meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump and leading what he called the government efficiency department.
Since then, Tesla has released nearly twelve middle-level jobs in India, including store, service and customer relationship managers.
Tesla’s showroom space has been booked near the Apple retail store in the nearby Jio World Drive shopping mall, run by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s dependency.
Despite Tesla’s plans to sell imported cars from Indian showrooms, over 100% tariffs still weigh on automakers, and Musk repeatedly complains that they are the steepest people in the world.
Musk found support from Trump, who repeatedly opposed India’s high taxes, especially on cars, and threatened reciprocity action.
Reuters reported earlier on Wednesday that the U.S. hopes India will remove tariffs on automobile imports under a proposed trade deal between the two countries, but New Delhi is reluctant to immediately lower such responsibilities to zero, even if it considers further cuts.
publishing – March 6, 2025 09:10 IS
