Elon Musk-led Tesla has held talks with realtors, including DLF and Maker Maxity, for showroom space: sources

Elon Musk-led company Tesla has held preliminary talks with real estate developers, including DLF and officials of Maker Maxity in Mumbai, sources said

Elon Musk-led Tesla has held preliminary talks with a bunch of real estate developers, including the largest player DLF, and Maker Maxity, for showroom space in high street, malls sites and commercial districts in New Delhi and Mumbai, people familiar with the matter told HT Digital.

Elon Musk-led Tesla has held preliminary talks with a bunch of real estate developers, including the largest player DLF, and Maker Maxity, for showroom space in Delhi and Mumbai. (Representative picture)

Musk is due to visit New Delhi next week to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is expected to announce a significant investment in the world's third-largest automobile market.

“They want showroom space spread across an area of 3000 to 4000 sq ft and they want it fast. Rentals will depend on the location,” one of the persons said, asking not to be named.

DLF did not respond to the queries sent by HT Digital.

It should be noted here that DLF has leased retail space to Porsche in Capitol Point in Connaught Place and to Kia in DLF Cyber Hub, Gurugram.

Real estate experts said that rents of car showrooms depend on the location. “In the Connaught Place area it may be anything above ₹600 per sq ft. Car showrooms generally have the ability to pay higher rentals, often a premium of 25% to 30%. They often end up setting a benchmark for higher commercial rentals in an area,” they said.

Sources also said that Tesla may be looking for showroom space in the commercial development by Maker Maxity in Mumbai's business district Bandra-Kurla Complex.

HT Digital has sent emails to both Maker Maxity and to Tesla.

How do luxury car companies decide on real estate space?

Experts said that luxury car manufacturers usually look for showroom space with direct access to the main road.

These often come up in parts of the city that have easy access to high net worth clients. “The showroom should be located in an area where cars can be easily delivered. It should have better infrastructure in terms of accessibility. Large corridors, clean pavements and a design that supports better visibility,” they said.

It should be noted that several global auto brands have showrooms located along the Golf Course Road in Gurugram. These include Mercedes and BMW. This is an area where high net worth individuals reside. Sources say that Maserati is also expected to come up with a showroom along this stretch. Car showroom rentals in this location are upwards of ₹600 per sq ft, they said.

Another real estate expert said that the location of luxury car showrooms is decided based on the location, residential clusters where the rich and famous reside are preferred, not to mention the presence of top corporate offices in that location.

Ultra luxury residential projects such as DLF Camellias, Aralias and Magnolias are all located along the Golf Course Road.

The rentals of luxury car showrooms depend on the space available to display signages, advertisements and branding. “A corner showroom space that has two-side visibility will command higher rentals,” a real estate expert said.

A recent report by Reuters had said that Tesla’s Berlin factory is producing right-hand drive cars it aims to export to India starting later this year. It reported that Tesla executives have actively started looking at locations in March. For that, they have already held preliminary talks with real estate developers.

It said that the preferred locations are likely to be at potential high street and mall sites. It has been indicated that Tesla wants construction to start as soon as possible with the opening date likely to be in 2024.