Tesla's India Team Shifts Focus To Wider APAC Region Amid Regulatory Woes

Tesla Inc TSLA may now be headed to the larger Asia-Pacific (APAC) market as it continues to face regulatory challenges in India, according to an Economic Times report.

What Happened: Elon Musk-led Tesla's India foray has been mired in red tape for a long time. The company has been facing headwinds due to high import duty levied by the Indian government, and it has been lobbying the government to reduce the rates.

Currently, India levies a 60% import duty on EVs priced at $40,000 or less and 100% duty on EVs priced at more than $40,000.

According to the ET sources, most of its team members of Tesla have traveled to Dubai and are "mainly working for the Middle-East markets."

This came after some of Tesla's employees hired for the Indian operation were moved to different regions. The report noted that Nishant Prasad  — who was hired by Tesla India as charging manager for India to set up its charging stations — changed his designation to "Charging Operations Lead-APAC."

Another employee named Manuj Khurana, who was responsible for public policy and business development in India, had shifted to California to take up a product role.

India has been asking Tesla to 'make In India' — the government also proposed to provide incentives to the company under its PLI scheme if it decides to set up a manufacturing plant in the country.

It's just not Tesla; many other U.S. electric vehicle makers such as Fisker Inc. FSR and Triton EV have plans to enter one of the world's largest auto markets.

Meanwhile, at the foreign policy and geoeconomics conference, Raisina Dialogue 2022, India's transport minister said that his government is ready to welcome Tesla if Elon Musk plans to make cars in India. The leader further added that the country has all the competence and technology that the EV maker may need but insisted that it must not import the cars from China.

Price Action: According to data from Benzinga Pro, ​​Tesla shares closed 8.33% lower at $873.28 a share on Thursday.

Photo: Courtesy of Tesla