Tesla Taps Lamborghini's Sharad Agarwal to Lead India Operations
Tesla has tapped ex-Lamborghini India head Sharad Agarwal to lead its push in a high-tariff, premium-priced market.
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Tesla Inc. has hired Sharad Agarwal, former head of Lamborghini India, to lead its operations in the country, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Agarwal starts this week and will be tasked with reviving sales after a slow start to Tesla’s India push, the report said.
The appointment fills a gap after Tesla’s previous India lead, Prashanth Menon, resigned in May. In the interim, regional leaders oversaw India preparations while the company opened retail sites.
Tesla opened its first India showroom in Mumbai on 15 July and later added a New Delhi location, part of a retail-first strategy built around imported Model Y vehicles priced near $70,000 because of steep tariffs.
Tesla’s India order tally had reportedly edged past 800 by October, underscoring the challenge of building volume at premium price points in a market where EV penetration remains low.
Agarwal most recently served as chief business officer at Classic Legends and earlier ran Lamborghini’s India business for nearly a decade.
His move suggests Tesla will lean on luxury-market experience while it calibrates product, pricing and network decisions for India.
The management change comes ahead of a closely watched 6 November shareholder vote on CEO Elon Musk’s compensation.
Norway’s $2.1 trillion sovereign wealth fund, a top-10 Tesla shareholder with about 1.1%, said it will vote against a proposed pay plan it characterizes as roughly $1 trillion in potential value, joining proxy advisers ISS and Glass Lewis in opposition.
Tesla’s board argues the package is critical to retain Musk.
That vote runs alongside Tesla’s attempt to restore Musk’s earlier $56 billion award, which a Delaware judge voided in 2024. The company is pressing an appeal at the Delaware Supreme Court.
The board’s case is that investors were adequately informed and that the award aligned incentives through ambitious market-cap and operational milestones, while critics cite board independence, process and dilution concerns.
