Tesla Is Set To Hire Ex-Lamborghini Head To Drive India Sales

Tesla Inc. has appointed a country head in India, marking a shift in its approach to the market after a muted start to sales in the world’s most-populous nation.

The electric-car maker has hired Sharad Agarwal, who previously led Lamborghini India, to head local operations, according to people familiar with the matter. Agarwal starts this week, the people added, and will be tasked with reviving Tesla’s push in a market that has so far failed to deliver on the hype.

He will also be an on-the-ground leader for Tesla as opposed to the previous structure in which a small team of local staffers were managed remotely by an executive team in China and other regional hubs.

Isabel Fan, Tesla’s director for Southeast Asia, had overseen stores launches in Mumbai and New Delhi in July and August, respectively. The previous country head, Prashanth Menon who resigned in May, was working out of India and the US.

The decision to bring on Agarwal was made as part of a move to develop a more homegrown strategy in India, the people said. 

Representatives for Tesla didn’t reply to a request for comment. Agarwal couldn’t be reached for comment.

By bringing in a leader with a background in high-end vehicle sales, Tesla is doubling down on luxury buyers rather than chasing mass-market volumes — at least for now. Agarwal’s challenge will be to convert early curiosity into meaningful sales while navigating India’s protectionist tariffs and slow EV adoption curve.

Tesla’s launch in India has so far underwhelmed its own expectations. The American EV maker had received just over 600 orders since starting sales in mid-July, Bloomberg News reported in September. That’s roughly equivalent to the number of vehicles it delivers globally every four hours. That order tally has edged up to over 800 vehicles by October, according to a person familiar.

The muted response underscores Tesla’s uphill battle in a market where high import tariffs have pushed the entry-level Model Y price above 6 million rupees ($67,575), far beyond the 2.2 million-rupee range for most EV sales in India, according to JATO Dynamics. EVs make up just over 5% of India’s total car sales.

Tesla plans to expand marketing efforts in the country to improve awareness of its brand and products, a person familiar said, adding it has installed pop-ups in busy malls in the National Capital Region, including one in Gurgaon district.

Before leaving Lamborghini about a year ago, Agarwal had spent nearly a decade leading Volkswagen AG unit Lamborghini’s India business, where he helped the brand establish itself as the country’s super-luxury market leader. 

He also expanded the brand’s reach beyond major metros to more than 60 cities, with smaller markets contributing a quarter of sales.

In Nov. 2024, Agarwal became chief business officer of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. unit Classic Legends, according to his LinkedIn page.