SUV maker M&M's shares are down nearly 2 percent in early trade on July 11, weighing on Nifty Auto index which is lower by 0.7 percent, as electric vehicle maker Tesla said it will be opening its first India showroom in Mumbai on July 15.
The showroom will be called an 'experience center', said Tesla officials, bringing it closer to start selling its cars in India, which will be imported into the country.
Shares of Bosch, a component supplier to Tesla, are higher by over 3 percent in the day's trade. Some of the other Indian suppliers to Tesla include names like Samvardhana Motherson International, Suprajit Engineering, Sona BLW Precision and Varroc Engineering.
Amid a rising threat of additional tariffs by US President Trump, Moneycontrol on July 10 reported that Tesla has assured its Indian suppliers of continued procurement, irrespective of any levies.
M&M Shares Sell Off
Though under selling pressure in the share market on July 11, M&M emerged as the largest electric car and SUV player in Indian SUV segment in terms of revenue share during the March quarter, as per JATO data cited by the company. However, Tesla's entry is expected to intensify the competitive intensity in India's electric automotive space.
In calendar year 2026, M&M has already announced plans to launch three ICE products, two born electric products, and two LCVs. On August 15, 2025, M&M has planned to reveal a new platform vision base, on which new products will start coming out from 2027. The SUV maker has opened up all markets - Tier I, II, even III, according to Rajesh Jejurikar, Automotive CEO at M&M, and is gradually increasing delivery of its EV offerings in all geographies. The booking momentum continues to be 'very steady and very strong', he said.
"...this is a business which we don't want to be rash and ramping up for two reasons. One is, there is a lot of product complexity. We are learning new technologies as we ramp up and so are our suppliers. So, we have to be very cautious in the way we ramp up production," Rajesh Jejurikar had said in May 2025.
HDFC Securities in a note on July 11 said it sees softer demand for Indian auto market, both domestically and globally, which will impact volume growth. TVS Motors could benefit from its successful models and variants, including the EVs, while Mahindra & Mahindra has been seeing increasing traction for UVs and tractors.
Tesla's India Plans
To begin with, Tesla has imported fully-built cars, and is likely to start selling its Model Y in India, sourced from its Shanghai factory, China, Bloomberg News reported on June 20. Some news reports had said that five Model Y cars have are already in Mumbai at a 70% import duty. The Model Y is the world’s largest selling electric car. Tesla has also imported Supercharger components, accessories, merchandise and spares from US, China and the Netherlands, the report said.
For Tesla, India's high import duties on cars have been a major hurdle in its expansion plans, given the high tariff and then the tax levied on the sale of the car, making its vehicles more expensive to begin with. "..it would be a great market to enter because India has a big middle class, which we would want to tap in, and that is the market which we want to be in. But, again, these kind of things create a little bit of tension which we’re trying to work around," CFO Vaibhav Teneja had said during the Q12025 earnings call.
Tesla has not yet named a replacement for its country head for India, after he resigned ahead of the planned entry into the world’s third-largest car market. The EV maker is reportedly also finalizing another showroom in Delhi's Aerocity, and has plans for an office in Bengaluru.
Earlier this year, during PM Modi's US visit, Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk met the Prime Minister to discuss strengthening collaboration between Indian and US entities. Tesla's India foray comes after years of discussions over Musk's concerns around tariffs and New Delhi's demand for local manufacturing.
EVs make up over 5% of India's passenger vehicle sales and premium cars are still less than 2% of the total car market, as per official data.
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