Tesla offers discount of ₹2 lakh on certain Model Y variants in India
Tesla managed to sell around 16 electric cars in the first 15 days of January 2026 while Chinese EV giant BYD sold 83 EVs
- Jan 15, 2026,
- Updated Jan 15, 2026 3:57 PM IST
Elon Musk-led Tesla is offering discounts of up to ₹2 lakh on certain variants of the Model Y sport-utility vehicle (SUV) in India, according to sources.
Tesla has managed to sell around 16 electric cars in the first 15 days of January 2026, according to VAHAN data as on January 15, 2026. That compares with 83 EVs sold by Chinese EV giant BYD.
Bloomberg was the first to report that Tesla was offering price cuts on certain variants as the company struggled to sell around a third of the initial Model Y vehicles it imported last year in India.
A query sent to Tesla India did not elicit a response.
The drop in Tesla’s EV sales in the first half of January comes after the carmaker reported strong sales in December. Tesla clocked sales of 69 electric SUVs in December 2025, as per VAHAN data. Chinese carmaker BYD clocked registrations of 249 units in December, down from 300 units in the same month last year.
German luxury car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz India clocked EV registrations of 70 units in December compared to 103 units in the corresponding month last year. However, BMW doubled its EV registrations to 351 units in December.
To be clear, both Tesla and BYD don’t manufacture cars in India. Even though the government announced the Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Electric Passenger Cars in India (SPMEPCI), which critics argued was tailor-made for Tesla, the Elon Musk-led company did not sign up for the scheme.
BYD, on the other hand, has not been able to set up manufacturing in India owing to the Press Note 3, which largely barred foreign direct investment from nations sharing land border with India.
Elon Musk-led Tesla is offering discounts of up to ₹2 lakh on certain variants of the Model Y sport-utility vehicle (SUV) in India, according to sources.
Tesla has managed to sell around 16 electric cars in the first 15 days of January 2026, according to VAHAN data as on January 15, 2026. That compares with 83 EVs sold by Chinese EV giant BYD.
Bloomberg was the first to report that Tesla was offering price cuts on certain variants as the company struggled to sell around a third of the initial Model Y vehicles it imported last year in India.
A query sent to Tesla India did not elicit a response.
The drop in Tesla’s EV sales in the first half of January comes after the carmaker reported strong sales in December. Tesla clocked sales of 69 electric SUVs in December 2025, as per VAHAN data. Chinese carmaker BYD clocked registrations of 249 units in December, down from 300 units in the same month last year.
German luxury car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz India clocked EV registrations of 70 units in December compared to 103 units in the corresponding month last year. However, BMW doubled its EV registrations to 351 units in December.
To be clear, both Tesla and BYD don’t manufacture cars in India. Even though the government announced the Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Electric Passenger Cars in India (SPMEPCI), which critics argued was tailor-made for Tesla, the Elon Musk-led company did not sign up for the scheme.
BYD, on the other hand, has not been able to set up manufacturing in India owing to the Press Note 3, which largely barred foreign direct investment from nations sharing land border with India.