Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, announced on his X (Twitter) platform, “Unfortunately, Tesla has a very heavy task. My plan to visit India has been postponed but I am still looking forward to visiting India later this year.”
According to Reuters, Tesla could have calmed investor sentiment with an “upcoming announcement in India” after months of falling stock prices and massive layoffs around the world. During Tesla’s upcoming earnings call next Tuesday, Elon Musk is also likely to face tough questions from analysts about declining sales, intensifying competition from Chinese electric car manufacturers, and the fate of Tesla’s key future products.
Elon Musk is also expected to meet with executives from several space startups in New Delhi, the report said.
Summary of some incident background:
April 10: Multiple foreign media reported that Elon Musk plans to visit India during the week of April 22 to 28 to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Tesla’s investment plan to build a factory in India will be announced during this period. The news was subsequently confirmed by Elon Musk himself.
April 15: Elon Musk announced via an all-staff email that Tesla would lay off 10% of its employees worldwide.
April 17: According to people familiar with the matter, Elon Musk will announce Tesla’s investment plan in India when he visits India next week, and is expected to invest US$2 billion to US$3 billion (Note: currently about 14.48 to 21.72 billion RMB), mainly used to build new factories.
April 18: Indian Finance Minister Sitharaman said in an interview with CNBC’s Network18 media today that Tesla’s intention to invest or build a factory in India will send a strong message to international investors, “India has favorable manufacturing industrial policies, a skilled young and middle-aged labor force and a huge market.” At the same time, it will also enhance India’s attractiveness as a “global manufacturing center”.
