As Tesla gears to foray into the Indian market, it has stepped up recruitment process for senior managerial and leadership roles in the country. The California-based electric vehicle giant is recruiting for roles including a head for sales and marketing, and a head for human resources, Bloomberg reported, quoting a source.
The company has also onboarded a senior legal counsel, as per a Tesla fan club tweet. Last month, Tesla had recruited Prashanth R. Menon as the Country Director for Tesla India and has tasked him with overseeing the company’s introduction here. Menon has been with Tesla for around four years now.
Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk all but confirmed Tesla would enter India in January after months of speculation. The world’s second-richest man on Jan. 13 tweeted “as promised” in response to a report on a Tesla-focused blog that the automaker was in talks with several Indian states to open an office, showrooms, a research and development center — and possibly a factory.
The EV maker has been closely monitoring all goods-and-sales tax related announcements made by the central and state governments that are aimed at reducing the cost of owning an electric vehicle, the report stated. It is also waiting for and looking forward to further incentives for EV makers under the production-linked incentive (PLI) program before finally cracking into the country.
The expensive cost of Tesla cars is viewed as a sticking point too. Although India is home to a budding middle class, pricey automobiles remain well out of reach of the vast majority of the population. The lack of charging infrastructure is another impediment to large-scale EV adoption.
Tesla has picked Karnataka, a southern state whose capital is Bangalore, for its first plant, the state’s chief minister said in February. Tesla hasn’t commented. The automaker has been negotiating with local officials for six months and is actively considering car assembly in the suburbs of Bangalore, other people familiar with the matter said at the time.
