Tesla Ropes In Ex-Lamborghini Country Head Sharad Agarwal To Lead India Ops

Global EV giant Tesla has reportedly appointed Sharad Agarwal, the former head of Lamborghini India, to lead its India operations as country head.  

A Bloomberg report said that Agarwal is set to step into the newly structured role starting this week. The company is aiming to strengthen its local presence with the appointment.

Prior to this appointment, Tesla relied on a small team in India reporting remotely to executives in China and other Asian hubs, the report added.

Inc42 has sent queries to Tesla regarding the appointment of Agarwal. The story will be updated after receiving responses. 

According to Agarwal’s LinkedIn account, he will join Tesla from Classic Legends, a Mahindra & Mahindra-backed venture which manufactures two-wheeler brands like Yezdi, Jawa and Birmingham Small Arms (BSA) Motorcycles. He joined Classic Legends last year as its chief business officer. 

Prior to that, Agarwal spent more than eight years as the head of India for Lamborghini, driving growth and profitability for the company in the super luxury car segment. 

Agarwal has spent more than 20 years in the automobile industry, working for various companies like Audi India, Mahindra and TVS. His appointment comes about six months after Prashanth Menon stepped down from his role as the India head for Tesla.

Tesla is looking to scale its operation in India’s four-wheeler EV market, targeting the luxury segment. After a long tussle of four years and repeated to and fro, Tesla launched its midsize SUV Tesla Model Y in India in July. The first launch was its Tesla Model Y RWD (rear wheel drive) priced at INR 59.89 Lakh and the second was its Tesla Model Y Long Range RWD, which is priced at INR 67.89 Lakh.

In July, the company unveiled its first showroom in Mumbai’s Banda Kurla Complex. In August, it opened its second showroom in Delhi’s Aerocity. Notably, the company was earlier planning to set up a manufacturing facility in India, but Union minister of heavy industries HD Kumaraswamy, in June, said that Tesla was not interested in manufacturing in India. 

After starting its operations on July 15, Tesla managed to bag about 600 orders till September, below its expectation. It competes with the likes of  Mercedes-Benz and BMW in the country’s luxury EV segment which is set to reach the $30.23 Bn mark by 2033.