Tesla flags low maintenance and fuel costs to woo Indian buyers

By Aditi Shah

Gurugram, INDIA, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Tesla's TSLA.O low running costs, including maintenance and fuel, can help Indian buyers to recoup about one-third of the Model Y's $67,000 price tag over four to five years, the company's India head said on Wednesday.

Tesla entered India in July with its imported Model Y, priced at a significant markup to its other major markets because of India's 100% import tariff.

Tesla is targeting a niche electric vehicle market in India that accounts for about 5% of overall sales in the world's third-largest car market. Analysts estimate that the majority of cars sold in India are priced below $22,000.

Since starting deliveries in September, Tesla has sold just over 100 Model Y's in India, based on Indian government registration data.

Tesla's India General Manager Sharad Agarwal said if Indian customers considered the low cost of maintaining a Tesla and electricity versus petrol prices, they could save around $22,000 over four to five years.

"Tesla does not provide a maintenance schedule because most of the service is done remotely through software updates which reduces the cost of ownership. And the cost of home charging is one tenth of petrol prices," he told reporters in Gurugram, where the company on Wednesday opened its biggest sales and service centre in the country.

Agarwal, who joined Tesla earlier in November, was previously the head of luxury carmaker Lamborghini in India.

In India, Tesla competes with homegrown rivals like Mahindra & Mahindra MAHM.NS and Tata Motors TAMO.NS and global players like SAIC Motor's 600104.SS India unit and Vietnamese EV maker VinFast Auto VFS.O.

The company is also gradually rolling out its supercharger network in India starting with Mumbai, Delhi and Gurugram.