Tesla finally launches in India with very expensive Model Y

After years and years of waiting, Indians can now finally officially purchase a Tesla vehicle - namely, the Model Y. The brand has launched in the country, offering the Model Y for INR 5.989 million (about $70,000) for the rear-wheel drive model.

If you want the long-range RWD, that's INR 6.789 million, or about $80,000. Tesla is also offering its "Full Self-Driving" package that still isn't anywhere near close to doing what its name implies, and for this there's an INR 600,000 charge or about $7,000 with Tesla's usual promises of what it may be able to one day achieve.

In case you looked at those prices and thought they were typos, they're not. The Model Y is most expensive in India compared to any of Tesla's major markets, and it's for a simple reason - India imposes steep import tariffs on cars, totaling around 100% of the value.

The Model Y sold in India is made in China, thus is subject to the aforementioned tariffs. Unsurprisingly, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has long criticized India's tariff stance, and there have been some rumors about Tesla establishing a factory in the country, but so far that hasn't come to fruition.

At the launch ceremony for Tesla in Mumbai, Devendra Fadnavis, the chief minister of the state of Maharashtra, which is home to the megacity, said: "In the future we wish to see R&D and manufacturing done in India, and I am sure at an appropriate stage Tesla will think about it".

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