Elon Musk has decided to drive Tesla into India after a long period of humming and hawing. Just days after he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the latter's visit to the US to meet President Donald Trump, the electric-vehicle maker is hiring in India, a sign it plans to enter India soon.The timing of Tesla’s entry into the Indian market comes at a crucial moment when the EV giant is struggling to retain investor confidence.Tesla shares are down by more than 25% since mid-December. Investor confidence has fallen as the electric vehicle giant contends with declining profit margins, dwindling sales, and fading brand strength, particularly in key areas such as Germany, where demand for Teslas is sharply down. Tesla recorded its first-ever annual decline in vehicle deliveries in 2024, with deliveries dropping from 1.81 million in 2023 to 1.79 million. The company also reported a 20% decrease in profits year-over-year.ALSO READ: Tesla begins job hunting in India after Modi-Musk meet, announces hiring plansTesla is struggling in China trying to attract buyers with incentives as its domestic rivals have ramped up their game. Competition between Tesla and Chinese domestic rivals is intensifying as the U.S. firm continues to launch incentives to keep its cars attractive. Tesla sold 63,238 units of its electric cars in January in China, down 11.5% from the 71.447 cars sold in the same month last year. Chinese rival BYD meanwhile sold 296,446 pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles last month, up 47% year-on-year. Tesla has also lost market share in Sweden and Norway in January.ALSO READ: Tesla’s sudden Indian jobs plan comes amid Trump’s tariff threatsTesla reported fourth-quarter profits of $2.3 billion, down 71 percent from the year-ago quarter, where profits were boosted by a one-time tax benefit. Revenues rose two percent to $25.7 billion, also missing analyst estimates, but reflecting a more than doubling of sales in energy generation and storage.According to research and consulting firm Brand Finance, the value of Tesla’s brand fell by 26% last year, with factors including Musk’s “antagonism,” Tesla’s aging lineup of EVs and more. The researchers found that fewer consumers would recommend or consider buying a Tesla now than in previous years.ALSO READ: Before Elon Musk enters Indian space, he plans to hit the road routeNow that Trump has assigned Musk the top role at Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), there are questions being raised whether Musk would be able to give enough time to his business while he works at DOGE and also spends time intervening in global politics.Tesla has already sought candidates for 13 roles in India, including customer-facing and back-end jobs, according to advertisements on Monday on its LinkedIn page. At least five of the positions, including service technician and various advisory roles, were available in both Mumbai and Delhi, while the rest of the openings, such as customer engagement manager and delivery operations specialist, were for Mumbai.Tesla had long been planning to enter India but was deterred by concerns over high import duties even after the government brought a new electric vehicle (EV) policy, which allows companies to import a certain number of high-end EVs at a concessional tariff, provided they agree to make long-term investments in domestic manufacturing. The policy was seen to be an encouragement to Tesla and other foreign EV makers to enter India. Now India has reduced basic customs duty on high-end cars priced above $40,000 from 110% to 70%.Amid so many drags on Tesla's growth and New Delhi’s shift in policy, an entry into India which promises a huge EV market in the not-so-distant future must make a lot of sense to Musk.