According to a Bloomberg report, Agarwal joined Tesla this week and will oversee its operations in India. His appointment reflects a change in Tesla’s management structure, which previously relied on a small local team reporting to executives in China and other regional centres.
The electric vehicle-maker aims to build a stronger local base and a more India-focused strategy, according to people familiar with the matter.
Until now, Tesla’s Southeast Asia director, Isabel Fan, had been overseeing its activities in India, including the launch of showrooms in Mumbai and New Delhi earlier this year. The company’s previous country head, Prashanth Menon, resigned in May after working between India and the United States.
Agarwal brings extensive experience in luxury car sales. During his nearly decade-long tenure at Lamborghini, he helped the brand expand beyond major cities to more than 60 locations across India, with smaller markets contributing about a quarter of its sales.
In November 2024, he became chief business officer at Classic Legends, a Mahindra & Mahindra subsidiary, according to his LinkedIn profile.
With Agarwal’s appointment, Tesla appears to be focusing first on premium buyers rather than the mass market. His main challenge will be to convert early interest in the brand into meaningful sales while dealing with high import tariffs and India’s slow electric vehicle adoption rate.
Tesla’s performance in India has been below its own expectations. Since launching sales in mid-July, the company received just over 600 orders. The figure increased slightly to around 800 by October, according to a Bloomberg report.
High import duties have pushed the starting price of Tesla’s Model Y above ₹60 lakh ($67,575), far higher than the ₹22 lakh price range where most electric vehicles in India are sold, according to JATO Dynamics. Electric vehicles currently account for just over 5% of India’s total car sales.
To raise awareness, Tesla has begun setting up pop-up displays in busy malls across the Delhi-NCR region, including Gurgaon, as part of its marketing expansion.
(Edited by : Vivek Dubey)
