Tesla has not only continued its dominance in the electric vehicle market in the United States but has also made significant inroads into the broader car market.
According to data from Cox Automotive and Kelley Blue Book, Tesla’s market share among all automakers in the US increased to 4.2% in 2023, up from 3.8% in 2022, reports Yahoo Finance. This growth is attributed to the sale of an estimated 654,888 Tesla vehicles in the US, marking a substantial 25.4% increase from the previous year.
Despite this growth, Tesla’s 4.2% market share still trails traditional automakers like GM, Ford, and Toyota which sell majority gas vehicles still. However, it has surpassed other notable brands such as Volkswagen, Subaru, and BMW.
Cox’s data indicates that GM leads the US market with a 16.5% share, followed by Toyota (14.4%), Ford (12.7%), Hyundai (10.6%), Stellantis (9.8%), Honda (8.4%), Nissan-Mitsubishi (6.3%), and Tesla (4.2%).
Tesla CEO Elon Musk cheekily replied to the new stat with, “6.9% is the next milestone (obv)”.
6.9% is the next milestone (obv)
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 8, 2024
In 2023, other brands that saw significant sales increases included Honda (up 33%), Mazda (23.2%), and Volvo (26.1%), particularly among those with over 100,000 unit sales in the US.
Tesla’s rise in the overall market, however, has impacted its profitability. The company’s average transaction price dropped from around $60,000 in January 2023 to $50,051 by the year’s end. Overall EV sales in the country rose by 46% from the previous year, but the marginal improvement from Q3 to Q4 suggests a potential plateau in sales.
Looking forward, the EV market is expected to undergo considerable changes, with over 70 new EV models anticipated in the next two years. Cox estimates 37 new models will debut in 2024 and another 34 in 2025, bringing more competition to the EV space.
The overall vehicle sales market in the US is projected to improve in 2024, despite challenges such as high financing costs and increased overall pricing. Cox forecasts new vehicle sales to reach 15.7 million in 2024, up from 15.5 million in 2023. Factors like fleet sales, new lease volume, and higher lease penetration are expected to bolster these figures, with leasing seen as a viable option for consumers to manage higher prices through lower payments.
“Cox estimates 37 new models will debut in 2024 and another 34 in 2025, bringing more competition to the EV space”.
When will legacy learn that 71 new models isn’t competition, at least not for Tesla anyways. And with “drops in demand for EVs” not for ICEs either. In order to create demand and compete with ICEs, they need to be better than ICEs in every way just as Tesla has done. This means that all the legacy players need to pare back to 2-3 models at most and perfect them, sell them at losses until they reach scale and then iterate like crazy making them even more compelling and price competitive…all while making enough money to stave off what I see as inevitable bankruptcies. They have left it all too late and most of their pomposity now is strictly to keep investors from bolting.