US electric vehicle startup Fisker will start selling the Ocean electric SUV in India in July and plans to manufacture the car locally within a few years, CEO Henrik Fisker told Reuters.
Electric car sales in India will increase in 2025-26 the company wants to secure a profit as one of the early players for electric passenger vehicles.
The electric vehicle market in India is dominated by cars produced by Tata Motors. Meanwhile Tesla has left India after failing to reach an agreement with the local government on import taxes and the construction of electric vehicle production facilities in India.
“Ultimately, India will go full electric. It may not go as fast as the U.S., China or Europe, but we want to be one of the first ones to come in here,” Fisker said.
The electric vehicle market in India is only 1% of India's approximately 3 million annual car sales. This is exacerbated by inadequate charging infrastructure and high battery costs which affect the selling price of electric vehicles
The government targets the electric vehicle market share to be 30% by 2030, offering companies billions of dollars in incentives to build their electric vehicles in India. On the other hand, tariffs on imports of electric vehicles into India tend to be high.
In the US, the Fisker Ocean retails for around $37,500. But importing it to India will require logistics costs and 100% import tax. Meanwhile most of the cars in India are selling for under $15,000. For this reason, the option to build production facilities is one option to reduce prices.
The Fisker Pear is being considered for production in India but not before 2026, said Henrik Fisker.
“If we can get the vehicle under $20,000 locally in India, that would be ideal. Then I think we'll hit a certain volume and market share,” said Henrik Fisker.
Henrik Fisker said setting up an electric vehicle factory in India would require a volume of at least 30,000 to 40,000 electric vehicles per year.
Fisker has a manufacturing contract agreement with Magna International (MG.TO) which will manufacture Ocean. Fisker also has an agreement with Foxconn to build PEAR.
Tesla won't set up manufacturing plant in India unless allowed to sell, service cars
