Indian-American Entrepreneur On Musk Picking China Over India

Vivek Wadhwa, an Indian-American entrepreneur and author, in a social media post, questioned billionaire Elon Musk’s decision to choose China over India for Tesla’s manufacturing operations. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Mr Wadhwa wrote that “Elon is going to be the biggest loser” by picking China over India. He quoted a post by the Director of Centre for Russia Europe Asia Studies, Theresa Fallon, who said that US and European automakers are failing in China because they were looking only for short-term gain and transferring technology, management techniques and know-how to China. “It was good while it lasted but that era is over,” said Ms Fallon. 

Reacting to this, Mr Wadhwa recalled that a few years ago, he exchanged emails with the Tesla CEO about the risks in China. He warned the billionaire that China would “rob him blind” and urged him to consider moving Tesla manufacturing to India

“Elon is going to be the biggest loser here. A few years ago, I exchanged emails with him about the risks in China. I warned him they would rob him blind and urged him to consider moving manufacturing to India instead, where he would have dominated the market by now,” Mr Wadhwa wrote. 

Take a look at the post below: 

Elon is going to be the biggest loser here.

A few years ago, I exchanged emails with him about the risks in China. I warned him they would rob him blind and urged him to consider moving manufacturing to India instead, where he would have dominated the market by now. https://t.co/yohQBhz2JN

— Vivek Wadhwa (@wadhwa) May 12, 2024

Mr Wadhwa shared the post on Monday. Since then it has accumulated more than 87,000 views and several comments.

“Great point! Wrong to think Tesla is too pricey for India, look at how Apple is dominating once they got local in manuf and retail. India is set to be its third biggest market very soon,” wrote one user. 

“I am sure he’s fully aware of the challenge. Anyways there were good reasons for going with China. 1. They wrote Tesla a blank check, they financed the factory and the tooling completely, nowhere else offered the same deal, 2. Access to battery supply chain,” commented another. 

Also Read | OpenAI’s New Demo “Made Me Cringe”: Elon Musk

Notably, Mr Wadhwa’s comments come after Elon Musk postponed his trip to India and headed to China on a surprise visit to the country. According to CNN, during his visit, the billionaire met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who praised Tesla as a “successful model” for US-China collaboration. In China, Mr Musk was seeking Beijing’s approval for the rollout of Full Self-Driving software in China and the transfer of its data overseas.