Analysts say the Tesla car most likely to be sold – and probably built in India, should company founder and CEO Elon Musk go ahead with his much-speculated move to set up a factory on the subcontinent – is the mass market electric vehicle currently known as “Model 2”.
Musk has been planning an affordable mass market EV for both Europe and India priced at about 25,000 euros or Rs 25 lakh+.
The Model 2 is expected to be launched in Germany in coming years, and may very well have a new name by that stage, but India is likely to see a SUV version of the two-door car after that, a report by MoneyControl said on Friday, citing sources.
The other Tesla likely to be sold in India is the Model Y, analysts have said. The Model Y has been produced from Tesla’s factory in California since 2020 and was the world’s best selling car in the first two quarters of this year.
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Chinese protester apologises to Tesla
Meanwhile, in other news about the carmaker, Tesla has reportedly won a public apology from a car owner who tormented the company with protests at stores and other venues in 2021 over a supposed “brake failure”.
Ms Zhang made repeated claims that a brake failure led to an accident involving another owner named ‘Ms Li’.
The case drew a lot of attention when Ms Zhang was arrested after staging a protest at the Shanghai Motor Show.
Tesla’s response to the incident did not go down well with Chinese media, but the company now appears to have had the last laugh.
The carmaker’s data logs allegedly showed the driver was at fault and an inspection of the EV’s brakes found no problems, according to a report by Electrek on Thursday.
“Now the Weiyang District People’s Court in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province ruled that the owner was at fault and she needs to remove her social media posts claiming brake failure, write a public apology to Tesla, and pay 2,000 yuan ($280) to cover legal costs, as well as 20,000 yuan to cover the cost of the inspection,” it said.
- Jim Pollard
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