Tesla’s share of US electric vehicle sales slid below 50 per cent for the first time, as the world’s largest EV maker faced increased competition in its domestic market.
Elon Musk’s auto group saw its share in the battery-run car market fall to 49.7 per cent in the second quarter, down from 59 per cent a year earlier, according to Cox Automotive, a leading car services and data group.
The EV maker faced increased competition that had led to “continued price pressure”, said Stephanie Valdez Streaty, Cox’s insights director.
The data comes as Tesla sees renewed pressure to update its line-up as new competition arrives in dealerships, including offering a mass market vehicle, and a slowing rate of growth in demand for EVs.
Overall EV sales in the US grew 11.3 per cent year on year in the April to June quarter, hitting a record high of 330,463 units, said Cox, but this was significantly lower than the 48.4 per cent pace registered for the same time last year.
Tesla’s Model Y and Model 3 face new competitors, including the BMW i5, Cadillac Lyriq, Honda Prologue, and Kia EV9 SUV, noted Cox.
Ford retained its second-place position behind Tesla, in the US EV market, helped by “higher volumes” of its Mustang Mach-E SUV and its F-150 Lightning truck.
The US auto market remains relatively shielded from the influx of cheaper Chinese competition, unlike Europe and other regions of the world. President Biden’s administration in May announced plans to quadruple the tariffs on Chinese EVs to 100 per cent.
Christopher Tsai of Tsai Capital, a Tesla investor, said the news was “no surprise” and he expected Tesla’s market share to continue to decline as new competitors enter the market.
“But we also expect Tesla will increase production and deliveries from approximately 1.8mn vehicles today to approximately 15mn vehicles in 2030,” he said. “That’s because the market for, and consumer adoption of, electric vehicles will increase substantially.”
Tesla announced that it delivered 443,956 vehicles globally in the three months to June earlier this month. The delivery figures were down 4.7 per cent from a year ago, but above Wall Street estimates. Tesla cars have also been included on a Chinese local government’s list of EVs that can be bought by public, party and government groups for the first time.
Its shares, however, were down more than 6 per cent in New York on Thursday following reports that the unveiling of its self-driving robotaxis would be delayed. Bloomberg News reported that the presentation of the new taxis, due in August, had now been put back to October.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.