Indian-American academic, entrepreneur, and author Vivek Wadhwa revealed on May 13 that he had advised Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk against choosing China for manufacturing, cautioning that the country would “rob him blind.” Instead, Wadhwa recommended moving manufacturing to India, where Musk could have dominated the market.
Quoting Theresa Fallon, Director of the Centre for Russia Europe Asia Studies, Wadhwa highlighted on X the pitfalls faced by US and European automakers in China. Fallon noted that these companies were failing due to their focus on shortterm gains and transferring valuable technology and management techniques to China. Wadhwa shared that he had “exchanged emails with Musk about the risks in China a few years ago,” expressing his concerns and urging Musk to consider India as a manufacturing base. “Elon is going to be the biggest loser here. I warned him they would rob him blind and urged him to consider moving manufacturing to India instead, where he would have dominated the market by now,” Wadhwa wrote.
This post follows Musk’s recent cancellation of a planned visit to India, where he was set to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and announce a $3 billion investment. Instead, Musk appeared in China shortly after.
In April, Musk cited crucial Tesla quarterly results as the reason for postponing his India visit, with plans to possibly visit later in the year to announce his investment plans.
