[FNM]

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com...174407718.html

Looks like plans for a Tesla plant in india have been scrapped. Unfortunate.

[shortbread]

Originally Posted by FNM

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com...174407718.html

Looks like plans for a Tesla plant in india have been scrapped. Unfortunate.

The article is based on last year's discussions not the latest round. It's a puff piece promoting Korea's chances after Tesla's India plans fell through last year, even the source is the old Bloomberg article.

Discussions between Tesla and India reached a stalemate last year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration insisted Tesla sell locally-made cars, while the automaker wanted to first import them at lower taxes to gauge demand.

' The breakdown of the negotiations offers hope for Korea, with Musk saying the country is one of his top candidates for the gigafactory during his meeting with President Yoon in Washington in April. '

[FNM]

Originally Posted by shortbread

The article is based on last year's discussions not the latest round. It's a puff piece promoting Korea's chances after Tesla's India plans fell through last year, even the source is the old Bloomberg article.

Discussions between Tesla and India reached a stalemate last year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration insisted Tesla sell locally-made cars, while the automaker wanted to first import them at lower taxes to gauge demand.

' The breakdown of the negotiations offers hope for Korea, with Musk saying the country is one of his top candidates for the gigafactory during his meeting with President Yoon in Washington in April. '

Well in that case there is till hope. Thanks for the clarification.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by androdev

2. Indian market is a huge deal to perfect AI. Way too much data and enormous amount of variation.

Curious why do you think that? We literally have no rules while driving, no standards, scientific or otherwise for building roads or infrastructure in general, no standards followed for road works, no road signs or anything. Essentially what you will be telling the AI is to drive however it wants to. I dont think that learning can be applied anywhere else.

Originally Posted by androdev

3. India is a good place for R&D, especially if you need lot of engineers

Tesla's whole autopilot team is around 300 people. I don't think he is looking for quantity as much as he is looking for quality.

[ashivas89]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Tesla's whole autopilot team is around 300 people. I don't think he is looking for quantity as much as he is looking for quality.

Is Autopilot the only thing they can develop with Indian engineers? A certain German manufacturer has a huge RD center here in India, please look up what they do

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by ashivas89

Is Autopilot the only thing they can develop with Indian engineers? A certain German manufacturer has a huge RD center here in India, please look up what they do

Well my comment was to elucidate Tesla's vertical integration and their focus on lean operation. I know which german manufacturer it is and technology wise they have absolutely nothing on Tesla, whether it is the in car tech, software controlling the car and most importantly manufacturing EV's at scale which is a combination of hardware and software both. So I dont really know what competitive advantage would Tesla gain by getting stuff done in India when they are already much further ahead owing to the quality of engineering not quantity or even cost.

Bear in mind since no one has previously made EV's at scale, Tesla has had to do everything by themselves. They could not simply go to a vendor and ask for it. Also I do not know what level of product development happens at MB R&D in Bangalore - I reckon its mostly IT engineering but I may be wrong.

[volkman10]

Tesla to probably choose location for factory in India by 2023 end: Elon Musk

Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said the automaker would probably pick a location for a new factory by the end of this year.

Link

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Tesla to probably choose location for factory in India by 2023 end: Elon Musk



Link

He did not say it is going to be in India. India is one of the places in contention for the factory.

[YD14]

Elon Musk lands in China to discuss automated driving technology in China. Link

Although it says Musk will discuss introduction of automated driving technology in China with officials and visit Tesla Shanghai, I highly doubt the discussions will not extend to helping Tesla make and export more cars from China.

I feel like the Tesla officials visiting India was just a way to gain upper hand in these negotiations. After all Tesla doesn't really see a market in India, India does not have many FTAs in place right now and Elon does use these tactics, just like he praised the chinese space program on twitter out of nowhere just before this visit.

[GhostGrid]

PM Narendra Modi will be meeting billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk during his US visit.

During his visit to the US, PM Narendra Modi will meet Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The discussion gains significance as a Tesla team reportedly offered to establish a manufacturing facility in India during a recent visit.

World's largest electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla's India launch could soon be a reality. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ongoing visit to the United States is expected to further the process, as he is scheduled to meet Tesla CEO Elon Musk on the sidelines. The meeting between the two, the second time in recent years, assumed significance after a team of executives from the EV manufacturer recently met with Indian officials in an attempt to reopen talks of investment. In May, Tesla reportedly offered to set up a manufacturing facility in India, its second in Asia after China, during the recent talks.

SOURCE

[ST7677]

Initially I was all excited about Tesla. However over last two years, I have extensively driven different Tesla models in USA. They are pretty boring cars to drive actually, but at the same time they are very practical.

Now I wonder what the hype was all about. Yes it's an excellent electric car, the best out there. It has the pickup, but that doesn't give an adrenaline rush like a revving ICE car does! It has the software goodies and bells & whistles but they are mostly novelty items. So from a petro-head car enthusiast's perspective its so boring that I now have second thoughts of buying it in India, even if it is launched locally.

However from a practical family man perspective, I might still buy one for it being one of the safest car out there, its very low cost of running, absolutely minimal maintenance requirement, and the standard self driving feature (yes in India). Even the basic auto-pilot which comes as standard equipment is top class and can take away significant load off the driver in highway driving. And from my experience, they have fair amount of tech for supervised self driving on Indian expressways.

IMO, if priced well, Tesla would be a good option for many C+ and above segment car buyers, for whom hassle-free low lifetime cost of ownership, very high resale value and future proofing, will offset the initial extra cost!


PS: What I am trying to hint as a potential car buyer myself, is that Teslas are not enthusiasts cars, these are cars for practical people, and hence will have mass appeal

The real challenge is probably lack of home charging stations in Apartment complexes in metros and other big cities. That's a major downer for any EV adoption.

[OrangeCar]

Anybody willing to wager a bet? Just kidding. Tesla will not enter and will not announce to enter India at least until Dec 2024.

I say this, even before PM Modi's scheduled meet with Mr. Musk.

In fact, I will be extremely surprised if Tesla enters India.

India's car volume, particularly the premium segment is too small to warrant a fresh new manufacturing plant.

Large markets - USA (fulfilled by US manufacturing facilities and a probable Mexico one), Europe (German factory), China (Chinese factory) already exist.

If Tesla assumes it could cater to local Indian market and abroad markets - I think the scale will tilt towards east asian countries. A country like Thailand/Malaysia or its neighbours will offer better export potential, as has been evidenced by many manufacturers. For example, within months of Ford announcing closing of Indian factories, it announced investment of approx $900 million in its Thailand factory - aimed at exports to markets such as the Australian ones.

But then, Mr. Musk knows how to eek out a good deal (sometimes a terrible deal, aka Twitter).

But, at this stage, with high taxes even on domestically produced cars, low volumes of luxury cars, no additional benefit for exports - I do not see Tesla investing. In fact, with Twitter, Musk could have read upon how difficult the Indian government was w.r.t compliance to its orders for Twitter.

My take on how I think Modi-Musk conversation will be like:
Modi: How are you Mr. Musk? Long time..
Musk: Yes, 2015 we first met at our factory.
Modi: We have done great things in India. Now you have to come to invest, you cannot lose out on an opportunity.
Musk: How about we start with lowering taxes?
Modi: Nope! Not happening. You come and put in your money!
Musk: I'll pass.
Silence all around.
Time for customary pictures and Twitter feed updates. The end!

[RaghuVis]

From the horses mouth!

[volkman10]

Musk says Tesla to be in India 'as soon as humanly possible' after meeting the Indian PM.

Elon Musk said he had a "very good" conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York on Tuesday evening, and that the maker of electric vehicles will try to be in India "as soon as humanly possible."

"It was excellent and a very good conversation," Musk told reporters when asked about his meeting with Modi, adding he planned to visit India next year.


Link

[WorkingGuru]

I'm imagining lithium resources as good as sold off for free and what not, can't speculate - God knows what happened, and I don't want to sound critical while the PM represents India on foreign soil, so I'll only hope that eventually this would somewhat benefit Indians.