Elon Musk has postponed a trip to India, including a planned meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after citing “very heavy obligations” at Tesla.
Tesla’s CEO was due to visit the country on April 21 and 22, where he was expected to announce an investment of between $2 billion and $3 billion in the country, according to Reuters, with spending plans focused on building a new plant in India.
Musk said in a post on X that he had to postpone the visit due to pressure at the electric car maker, which reports its quarterly results on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, Tesla’s very heavy obligations require that the visit to India be delayed, but I am looking forward to visiting later this year,” he wrote.
Tesla is expected to report its worst performance in seven years this week, due to slowing global demand for electric vehicles and pressure on prices from Chinese rivals. The company has already indicated a poor first quarter in terms of sales, after revealing this month that deliveries missed market expectations by about 13%.
Tesla has reacted to the slowdown by laying off more than 10% of its global workforce, equivalent to at least 14,000 positions.
Musk faces questions from analysts about growth in China, plans for a cheaper electric car known as “Model 2” and whether a shift in focus toward autonomous robotaxis will affect the project. Tesla shares have fallen 40% so far this year. Analysts at Wedbush Securities wrote last week that Tuesday’s conference call with the investment community represented a “moment of truth” for Musk and Tesla.
“While we have seen much more subdued times in Tesla history dating back to 2015, 2018, 2020… this time it is clearly a little different as, for the first time, many long-time Tesla believers are giving up on the history and throwing in the white towel. ”Wedbush wrote in a note to investors.
Reuters reported this month that Tesla had halted development of the Model 2, prompting Musk to post on X that “Reuters is lying,” without citing any inaccuracies.
Musk’s visit to New Delhi was also expected to include meetings with executives from startups in the space industry. Musk is awaiting regulatory approvals from the Indian government to begin offering its Starlink satellite broadband service in the country.
Musk had posted on X on April 10 that he was “looking forward to meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India.”