Indians who paid $1,000 each to pre-order a Tesla in 2016 didn't get the car - but it's not easy to get their money back, either

In April 2016, Tesla opened a pre-booking website in India, but has not been selling electric vehicles in the country yet, which is the world's third largest car market.

One of the first to pay for the car reservation was Vishal Gondal, the CEO of the health startup GoQii and a long-time fan of Elon Musk. At the time, the service cost $1000 and the man did not regret the money, although there was no clarity on whether Tesla would start supplying cars to India. After 7 years of futile waiting, Gondal finally decided to cancel the reservation — and that was the beginning of another trial. For six months, the man bombarded Tesla with letters and did not receive a response — eventually, the refund came, but the customer did not hear any apologies.

According to Rest of World, Vishal Gondal is not the only one who found themselves in a similar situation. Some say that due to futile waiting, they were disappointed in Tesla and eventually switched to other electric vehicle manufacturers, but the most devoted fans are still waiting for their "delight."

“It would be strange to say that I will do it again,” says Amit Bhawani, the founder of the tech blog PhoneRadar who reserved a Model 3 in 2016. “If I see a showroom in Hyderabad with a proper service center, then maybe. But I will no longer trust Musk.”

Bhawani also received his funds not immediately — the refund was accelerated by his YouTube video about canceling the Tesla order. He also described his problems in several publications on X.

“Someone just put me ahead of the line and returned the money for me to stay silent,” he said. “I learned that ordinary people who canceled their reservations did not get money back, only influential people or people with a blue checkmark at that time.”

In 2016, Tesla's decision to open pre-booking for the Model 3 in India was met with great excitement. Within hours, several well-known tech and business leaders of the country reserved the car and shared it on social media. Since then, Musk has mentioned new entry dates for the company in India every time: summer of 2017, 2019, and "as possible" in mid-2023.

Even in January 2021, Tesla registered an Indian subsidiary company in Bengaluru, but there is still no official channel for purchasing Tesla vehicles directly in the country.

When Musk announced his plan to visit India in early 2024, many expected Tesla to finally talk about production in the country. However, just two days before the planned trip, Musk canceled it, and a week later traveled to neighboring China.

“People who made reservations about 8 years ago — are not the ones who are concerned about $1000,” said Yugal Joshi, a partner at the international research company Everest Group.

Joshi added that delays in investments (rumored in car manufacturing and gigafactory creation) and Musk's recent cancellation of the trip to India combined with his "proximity to China" complicate the situation in an already uncertain environment.

For many years, Tesla's main issue in India has been the exorbitant import duty, which almost doubles the prices of cars. On March 15, the Indian government proposed to reduce it by 15% — for cars costing $35,000 with 8,000 units per year, if manufacturers establish local production within three years.

According to the Financial Times report, Tesla plans to send employees from the US to search for a location for a gigafactory in India worth up to $3 billion. The company is also "looking for a liberalized duty regime," says Mahesh Murti, the founder of the venture capital fund Seedfund and the digital marketing company Pinstorm. Murti pre-booked two Model 3s in 2016, but did not get a refund, as he believes that Tesla is optimistic about India, it's just that circumstances have not aligned yet. According to Murti, members of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers have been "intensely lobbying against Tesla."

Ankur Bisen, a senior partner at the consulting firm Technopak, says that the market is in a somewhat different state than when Tesla planned to enter the Indian ecosystem.

“2016 was a completely different era in terms of electric vehicle maturity. Besides Tesla, we didn't know anyone else”.

According to Yugal Joshi from Everest Group, Indians' obsession with Tesla is in line with the global trend. He said that the company "surpassed its counterparts with minimalist design, features, technology adoption, and focus on the driving experience."

“A Tesla owner can look cool and stand out. People with money can spend a fortune just on these two aspects”.

Based on materials from Rest of World