Tesla India has opened its sixth experience centre in India at Express Avenue Mall in Chennai, extending the electric vehicle maker’s retail and after-sales network in Tamil Nadu as it works to build a local customer and service base.
The Chennai facility follows centres in Mumbai, Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. It allows customers in Chennai and across Tamil Nadu to experience Tesla vehicles, place orders and take deliveries locally. The company said customers ordering in September would be targeted for delivery before Diwali, subject to completion of the required processes.
Tesla India Managing Director Sharad Agarwal described the Chennai outlet as the company’s third experience centre in southern India. “This is our sixth experience centre in India and the third in the south. We are very excited that we are coming closer and closer to our customers here in Tamil Nadu and Chennai,” he said.
Alongside the retail facility, Tesla has made an approved collision centre and service facility operational in Poonamallee. The facility provides access to genuine parts, trained technicians, software-enabled diagnostics and collision repair, giving owners in Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu a local option for maintenance and accident-related work.
The company’s wider service and body-shop network is operational in Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, in addition to Chennai. Tesla said its direct-to-consumer model allows customers to order vehicles without visiting an experience centre, with the company arranging delivery to them.
The expansion comes as about 680 Tesla cars have been registered in India during the current calendar year, according to Vahan data cited in the company’s announcement. Tesla is currently offering two models in India: the Model Y and the Model Y L. The Model Y Premium Rear-Wheel Drive is priced at ₹50.89 lakh and has a claimed range of up to 500 km under WLTP testing. The three-row, six-seat Model Y L starts at ₹61.99 lakh and has a claimed range of up to 681 km.
Charging access remains a key part of the company’s expansion. Agarwal said Tesla currently has five Supercharging stations with 20 stalls in India and is expanding home-charging capabilities. The company’s ownership model also relies on software and remote diagnostics, with more than 70 per cent of potential problems said to be solvable remotely. Tesla also offers mobile service, limiting workshop visits to more serious cases.
Tesla is positioning its vehicles as technology products, highlighting over-the-air software updates and artificial-intelligence-enabled features. Agarwal said the company was moving from touch-based controls towards voice interaction, with its AI assistant capable of interacting in several Indian languages.
The company has described its business model as end-to-end, covering vehicle design, manufacturing, retail, delivery and charging infrastructure. The next operational milestone for Chennai customers will be the completion of the required processes for deliveries targeted before Diwali, while Tesla continues to expand its service and charging network in India.
