Tesla Drives India With Top Hands In Foreign Shores

American electric vehicle (EV) giant Tesla's long-awaited India entry is taking shape, but with some quirks. For one, there's no heavyweight local captain at the wheel yet. The foray is being led remotely by the company's Asia-Pacific executives.

- Ayaan Kartik

For another, it is lapping up sales and business executives from rivals Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and MG Motor India, but at junior-to-mid experience levels.

Then, the hype of its entry is dimmed somewhat by the absence of glitz in showrooms that its luxury rivals flaunt, even as it aims for the rich consumer with cars priced upwards of ₹60 lakh.

Experts said the hiring strategy and placement of stores in wealthy corners of cities like Delhi and Mumbai is a sign that Tesla will solely focus on the niche premium luxury market.

"Given how Tesla is positioning itself in the Indian market, they will need executives with experience of premium cars," Amit Kaushik, managing director at auto analytics firm Urban Science India, said. "However, what has been notable is that the company has not gone for a very senior hire to drive its foray in the Indian market."

The company utilized its senior executives in Hong Kong to train and support the new sales representatives deployed by the company here in India, according to two people aware of the matter.

Public social media posts by Tesla's new hires indicate that Andy Lo, learning and development manager at Tesla and Kenneth Lui, regional sales manager of certain South East Asian nations, were among the executives spearheading the training processes.