US President Donald Trump has criticized Tesla's potential plans to manufacture electric vehicles in India, calling the move "unfair" to the US during an interview with . His comments came shortly after reports emerged about Tesla's strategy to enter the Indian market through local manufacturing to circumvent high import tariffs.

Elon Musk has long criticised India for having import tariffs of around 100 per cent on EVs which protect local automakers such as Tata Motors in the world's third largest auto market, where EV adoption is still at a nascent stage.

Tesla sales are in an unprecedented slide. Competitors are rapidly gaining ground. There’s a lot of bad news for Tesla lately – but it’s unclear if the politics of its polarizing CEO, Elon Musk, are to blame.