Chinese EVs rule imports to India. Can Tesla shake things up?

Tesla’s entry into India is expected to boost the country’s imports of electric vehicles (EVs), but a Moneycontrol analysis shows that China had already carved out a dominant position in the imported cars market well before the US EV maker set foot in the country.

The Austin, Texas-based company, which announced its first store in India on July 15, will be shipping cars from its Shanghai factory.

In FY25, China accounted for 61.1 percent of the nearly 10,000 electric vehicles imported by India, up sharply from 22.8 percent the previous year. Imports from China have surged nearly 20-fold over the last four years—from just 332 vehicles—to dominate the Indian imported EV landscape.

Germany, which was India’s top import source until FY24 with a 40 percent market share, saw its part of the pie decline to 27.8 percent in FY25. However, in terms of value, Germany still leads, accounting for $118 million out of the total $244.2 million worth of EV imports. 

Tesla’s entry is poised to alter the average import value. Germany’s average import price was $44,320 per car—nearly four times higher than the average Chinese EV, priced at $12,627. South Korea, another key EV exporter, shipped 647 vehicles to India with an average value of $37,295.