Tesla appoints ex-Lamborghini India head Sharad Agarwal to lead India operations

Elon Musk-led electric cars maker Tesla has appointed Sharad Agarwal, the former head of Lamborghini India, as its new country head.

Agarwal, who begins this week, will oversee Tesla’s local operations and spearhead efforts to develop a more India-focused strategy, according to media reports. His appointment reflects a shift from Tesla’s earlier structure, under which a small local team reported remotely to executives in China and other regional centres.

Until now, Tesla’s Southeast Asia director Isabel Fan had overseen the company’s activities in India, including the opening of its two showrooms in Mumbai and New Delhi earlier this year. The position had been vacant since May, when Prashanth Menon, the previous country head, resigned after splitting his time between India and the United States.

Agarwal brings more than a decade of experience in luxury automotive sales. During his tenure at Volkswagen AG’s Lamborghini India, he helped the brand expand its reach beyond major metros to over 60 cities, with smaller markets contributing roughly a quarter of total sales. In November 2024, he joined Classic Legends, a Mahindra & Mahindra subsidiary, as chief business officer, according to his LinkedIn profile.

By hiring a leader with a premium-segment background, Tesla appears to be doubling down on India’s luxury car buyers rather than chasing mass-market volumes, at least for now. Agarwal’s immediate challenge will be to convert early enthusiasm into sustained sales while navigating India’s high import duties and relatively slow electric-vehicle adoption.

Tesla’s initial performance in India has fallen short of expectations. Since launching sales in mid-July, the company has received just over 600 orders, a figure that inched up to about 800 by October, according to Bloomberg. That’s roughly equivalent to Tesla’s global deliveries every four hours.

The muted response is partly due to pricing. High tariffs have pushed the starting price of Tesla’s Model Y to about Rs 60 lakh, far higher than the Rs 20-30 lakh range where most electric cars in India are sold, according to data from JATO Dynamics.