Business
India’s market for luxury electric vehicles hotting up
Even as Tesla is holding out for India to lower import duties on electric cars, rivals such as Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo are seeing a bigger opportunity in assembling these cars locally.
Taxes on locally assembled electric cars add up to 45% versus 110% on imported models, making them more affordable for consumers in India and a better business model for companies, an analysis by ET showed. India’s market for luxury electric vehicles is getting hotter, with the likes of Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW, Volvo lining up a slew of launches and state governments making a beeline to support Tesla’s entry into the country.
While Tesla is still undecided about the India entry, as the Model S manufacturer hasn’t got any assurance on its demand for a cut in import tax on fully built vehicles, the other luxury automakers that are already present here are banking on the lower GST on EVs and local assembling to push their vehicles here. The tax breaks allow them to sell some of the electric vehicles at prices on par with their fossil fuel-powered variants.
-Economic Times