Investing.com-- Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has opened up positions to begin hiring in India, Linkedin listings showed, signaling a potential entry into the country after CEO Elon Musk met Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week.
Tesla has 13 positions open in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region- India’s financial capital- and is seeking positions ranging from sales advisors, operations managers, technicians, and customer support.
The new openings come shortly after Musk and Modi met in Washington, although it was not immediately clear whether the two had discussed Tesla’s entry into Indian markets.
Reuters had reported in December that Tesla was seeking to open a showroom in India’s capital, New Delhi.
But Musk had in April 2024 cancelled plans to visit India. He had also scrapped plans to invest billions of dollars to set up a factory in the country.
If Tesla were to import cars into the country, they would face steep duties, given that Indian law charges dues of as high as 100% on automobile imports.
But this could change as Prime Minister Modi seeks to appease the Donald Trump administration by lowering import duties on American goods. Trump had threatened to impose steep reciprocal tariffs on countries trading with the U.S.- a scenario that India has been seeking to avoid.
Tesla is looking to fresh markets, as it struggles with declining sales in its key European, North American and Chinese markets. The sales declines come amid a mix of increased competition, weak automobile demand, as well as brand issues associated with Musk.
But the electric vehicle maker could also face stiff competition from established local players in India, such as Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (NSE:MAHM) and Tata Motors Ltd (NSE:TAMO). The two have rolled out a slew of EV offerings in recent years. Chinese EV major BYD (SZ:002594) Co Ltd (HK:1211)- a major Tesla competitor- also has a growing presence in the country.