Indians Who Pre Booked Tesla Model 3 in 2016 Now Seeking Refunds After Delays

In 2016, Elon Musk extended an invitation to Indians to place a preorder for the Tesla Model 3. The first person to pay a $1,000 deposit on a car that never got delivered till date is Vishal Gondal, the founder and CEO of the health technology company GOQii.

Since 2016, several automakers have introduced their own electric vehicles, in contrast to the American automaker that failed to live up to expectations. Elon Musk cited the high cost of taxes in India as well as the challenges of establishing an Indian facility to move production from China as the reason for the delay.

Given the murky explanation provided by Tesla on its arrival in India, Gondal opted to purchase an electric SUV from German automaker Audi. He was able to get his $1,000 in January 2023, thanks to a friend who assisted him in locating a Tesla sales manager in India. “I think Tesla may be a great tech company. But they just don’t know how to sell luxury cars,” Gondal said.

Director of a design company in Mumbai, Hemant Suthar, who had also pre booked a Tesla in 2016 and eventually received his money back in 2023, expressed doubts about the basic Tesla's ability to compete with some of the more opulent EVs currently being driven in India.

In 2019, Musk went on to voice fears that import duties would drive up the cost of Tesla manufactured in India, rendering them unaffordable. He abruptly cancelled an anticipated trip, citing extremely demanding Tesla duties, despite the expectation of many in India that he would reveal plans for a factory there in April.

In the last five years, the EV market has experienced significant changes in India and other countries, and Tesla's position has shifted as a result of the company building massive plants in China, Germany, and the US. For the past two quarters, global sales have decreased year over year due to the limited market for its sole new product, the ‘Cybertruck EV’, outside of the United States.

Tu Le, founder of the consultancy Sino Auto Insights, said, "To keep a leading position among global automakers, Tesla needs new, more affordable cars for emerging markets like India. Even a car priced at $25,000 is not competitive in China given the dominance of Chinese EV makers like BYD. They're expanding overseas with both cheap and premium cars, wiping out Tesla's first-mover advantage in a place like India."