The change in roles of its India management team comes as the company is pressuring the government to cut import duties.
Tesla’s India operations have been in limbo with the company for months and is now trying to bring down import taxes on its vehicles. Meanwhile, the government has reiterated its desire that the company wants to set up its much-loved Gigafactory in the country, with several states approaching the manufacturer. Now as per the latest reports, the world’s leading EV manufacturer has reshuffled its India management team, with many of them moving into roles for the wider Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.
As per a report by ET Auto, the majority of the company’s India management team has been shifted to Dubai to work for the Middle-East markets.
Manoj Khurana, who oversaw Tesla India’s public policy and business development, according to his LinkedIn profile, has moved to a product role at the company’s office in California. Meanwhile, Nishant Prasad, former Ather Energy executive and Tesla India’s Charging Manager, has updated his position as the Charging Operations Lead for the APAC region.
Tesla has approached the Indian government for a tax break to reduce the cost of selling its CBU vehicles in the country.
Tesla opened its India office early last year with executives hiring to handle its India operations. The company’s plans to launch its cars in India, however, seem to have stalled. Tesla last year approached the Indian government to lower import duties on its cars – a move to make its cars more viable for buyers. However, the government has not shied away from its stand on import duty.
Currently, importing a car as a CBU attracts a 100 percent duty for models costing $40,000 and above and 60 percent for models below that. When imported as CBU with Model 3 prices starting at $40,000 it will attract the highest import duty thus pushing the prices above Rs 60 lakh.
Meanwhile, the Indian government has said it would be open to Tesla setting up manufacturing operations in India – a decision the company has yet to take.
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With inputs from ET Auto
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