Tesla is just the carrot Musk is dangling in front of India to allow the entry of Starlink and his larger business template,
31 Mar 2025 | 1642 Views | By Avik Chattopadhyay
Tesla – a maverick genius who invented many things and claimed to have invented many more, died alone in room 3327 in the New Yorker hotel. Today, the name is shared by a celebrated electric mobility pioneer into an early mid-life crisis of identity and purpose. Masla – an Urdu ...
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Tesla – a maverick genius who invented many things and claimed to have invented many more, died alone in room 3327 in the New Yorker hotel. Today, the name is shared by a celebrated electric mobility pioneer into an early mid-life crisis of identity and purpose. Masla – an Urdu word than means “a problem” or “an issue”, derived from the Arabic word ‘mas’ala’. Masala [spice] is what the Indian media has created out of a simple news item that Tesla is planning an entry into the world’s third largest four-wheeler market.
There is a spice overload…of euphoria, of intrigue, of conspiracy theories, of competitive upmanship and so on. Right now, Tesla and its talisman are not going through the best of times. The masla is a sudden backlash on the brand, in terms of both image and sales. What is most disturbing is that a certain part of it is right at home, in the US. One can explain the social backlash in Europe as “sour grapes”, but why so in China, where the brand till recently was a marquee darling? Musk and Tesla will not play by the script others wish them to.
They run a business and that too one of the world’s most valuable, not at the whim and fancy of some scribes in some part of the world. The Indian media needs to evaluate Tesla’s entry from that perspective, in a mature and measured manner rather than throw a rave party in celebration. There is an African proverb that says, “even if you have the sharpest teeth, you cannot bite water.” Tesla is not “novelty” any more. I still remember that day in 2013 when I was standing with the global head of product planning of VW in front of a Tesla Model S, and he said, “This thing really scares me.”
After a good 14 years, a Tesla is a pioneer but not the fad any more. It is mainstream now. Not the rebel, but the very establishment which it challenged 15 years ago. It has new rebels to fend off. From all parts of the world, especially from China, its biggest market outside of the US.
Musk knows very well that Tesla will not have a large market in India…in fact much smaller now than if he had the audacity to come in ten years ago, wanting to evangelise this market like he had done with Europe and China. Which is why, the brand exposure will not be more than a couple of showrooms at the most across the country selling CBUs.
These will be company owned experience centres. If he has any plans for expanding the brand presence [which he should not], he better tie up with a larger Indian corporation like Tata or Reliance or Aditya Birla. The more he spreads, the more the erosion of the brand halo. He needs to keep it tight and lean, with just a few numbers being ‘released’ for India.
He does not want to go the HD way at all. His ego is just too big for such an egg on the face. The current social unrest about the brand is not boding well at all for its entry into new markets. The social media backlash, especially from the new generation, will not help matters at all. It might not be “cool” to be seen in a Tesla any more.
You might actually belong to the establishment and that too a whimsical and supremely megalomaniac one. The brand is surely scuffed at the edges right now. So, a very slow and cautious approach would be more reasonable than a PR overkill. And that is exactly what the organisation is doing since January… smoothen out the “Musk” factor and be seen in a more ‘I shall make good’ tone than ‘I couldn’t care less.' Tesla will procure from India for sure. There are already news items on the same, especially with Tata.
Makes sense from the ‘hedging risk’ point of view. All the talk of entering into assembly tie-ups are wind castles. He does not want that. Please remember that Musk and Tesla have much more at stake in China than anywhere else in the world, including the US. He would not want to upset that applecart at all, at any cost. That will be the end of Tesla. Tesla is not in India to sell its cars.
Musk will use Tesla as “leverage” in the Indian market to allow entry of Starlink and a larger business template. He knows that the government and media have played up the “India needs Tesla” narrative so much, almost at the point of being servile, that he might as well use it to his advantage. Carrot and stick.
Tesla is the carrot, X is the stick. See Tesla as part of a larger Musk plan for this economy rather than just as a leading automobile brand entering the world’s third largest car market. I personally think Musk is bored of Tesla. Mavericks do tend to get tired of an idea after some time.
Their attention and mind move on to newer and grander things. Given the technology arbitrage that China has on the electric mobility movement, Tesla in a few years will be a ‘has been’. Admired but not necessarily adopted. Oldsmobile. Talbot. Tatra. Adler. Edison. Panhard- Levassor. Hispano-Suiza.
The history of the automobile is riddled with many more pioneering names and badges, long gone but fondly remembered. Musk might step down very soon, which might be a terrific strategic move, and then sell off Tesla to someone else like a BYD or Geely. The badge will be taken care of and the R&D spends will be amortised. Daihatsu remains under Toyota, right? And continues to do very well. Countrymen, stay calm and carry on. India does not need Tesla. Tesla needs India.