President Donald Trump does not appear to support the idea of Tesla manufacturing vehicles in India.
The President told Fox News on Tuesday that it would be “unfair” for the EV manufacturer to build a factory in the South Asian nation to circumvent India’s tariffs. During a meeting with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, Trump highlighted India’s high duty on imported cars but agreed to work with the country to create a mutually agreeable trade arrangement.
“Now, if he built the factory in India, that’s okay, but that’s unfair to us. It’s very unfair,” Trump said during the interview, per Reuters.
India maintains a tariff of roughly 100% on imported EVs, designed to protect the domestic auto sector and its manufacturers, like Tata Motors. Musk has been a longtime critic of India’s policy, which has made it difficult for Tesla to enter the world’s third-largest auto market.
Consumer demand for EVs in India has been minimal thus far. Only 100,000 EVs were sold in the country in 2024 despite a population of more than 1.4 billion people.
For comparison, around 1.7 million EVs were sold in the United States last year, with a population less than a quarter of the size of India.
This is not the first time talk of Tesla entering the Indian market has emerged. In 2016, Musk responded to a user on social media, formerly Twitter, asking when the company’s Model 3 would be available for sale in the country.
“We are working on an exact date, but Tesla will be in India before 3 production starts,” Musk said at the time.
More recently, in June 2024, Musk took to X to congratulate Modi on his election victory, hinting at Tesla’s potential future in the country.
“Congratulations @narendramodi on your victory in the world’s largest democratic elections! Looking forward to my companies doing exciting work in India,” Musk posted.
President Trump called the idea of Tesla selling vehicles in the untapped market “impossible.”
“Every country in the world takes advantage of us, and they do it with tariffs… It is impossible to sell a car, practically, in, as an example, India,” he said.
Last March, New Delhi announced a new program that would reduce taxes to just 15% for carmakers that invest at least $500 million in the country and build a factory.
On February 18, 2025, Reuters reported that the EV maker had selected locations for two showrooms: Mumbai and New Delhi. Tesla also reportedly posted jobs for more than a dozen mid-level positions in the South Asian country.