Tesla (TSLA.O) sold about 164,000 electric vehicles to Americans in the second quarter, down about 6% from a year earlier. Its market share fell to 49.7% from 59.4% a year earlier. That doesn't matter.
For the first time since electric car giant Tesla popularized battery-powered cars, its market share has fallen below 50%, which is a good sign for the industry and Tesla.
Electric cars are going mainstream. That's good news for anyone trying to sell them.
Americans bought a record 330,000 all-electric vehicles in the second quarter, up 11% from the same period last year. This result is reassuring. Electric vehicle sales grew only 3% year-on-year in the first quarter, far below the 46% growth rate expected in 2023.
The slowdown in growth in early 2024 has everyone nervous. Tesla shares are down 44% from their April lows. The decline was driven in part by lower-than-expected first-quarter deliveries, which were down nearly 9% from the same period last year.
Now, Tesla shares are flat for the year, rebounding about 20% after better-than-expected second-quarter deliveries. Tesla sold about 444,000 vehicles worldwide in the second quarter, down less than 5% year-over-year.
In the United States, Tesla sold about 164,000 vehicles. Its share was 49.7%. Although it is less than 50%, investors don't care. Tesla's stock price rose after data provider Cox Automotive released its second-quarter market share.
One reason for this reaction is that no one expects Tesla to have half the market forever. Another reason is that Tesla and other automakers will need higher EV penetration in the future to sell enough battery-powered cars to justify stock market valuations and EV investments.
EV penetration in U.S. new car sales is about 8%. It has been around 7% to 8% for the past six quarters.
Still, there are signs that Americans are warming up to electric vehicles, as more automakers begin selling them in larger numbers and as more affordable options become available.
Nine automakers sold more than 10,000 battery electric vehicles in the second quarter: Volkswagen, BMW, General Motors (GM.N), Ford Motor (F.N), Hyundai, Kia, Rivian (RIVN.O), Toyota Motor (TM.N) and, of course, Tesla. That's up from eight a year ago. Toyota (including Lexus) has joined the group.
Some luxury automakers struggled to sell electric vehicles in the second quarter, such as Polestar, Porsche, Volvo and Mercedes. These companies all saw double-digit sales declines in the second quarter compared with the same period last year. This once again shows that the luxury end of the battery electric vehicle market is saturated.
Kia made some of the biggest gains in the second quarter, increasing its market share by nearly 3 percentage points from last year. Ford, the second-largest U.S. EV maker, saw its market share rise by about 2 percentage points. GM gained just over 1 percentage point.
Kia's best-selling model in the second quarter was the Kia EV6, which starts at about $43,000. Mercedes' best-selling electric model was its EQE SUV, which starts at nearly $75,000.
It's a good sign that more affordable options are being snapped up by American buyers. Whether it's Tesla or any other company, cars priced right will sell well.
Tesla shares are down about 1% this past week, while the S&P 500 is up about 1%. News that Tesla postponed its August robotaxi event hit the stock hard. Shares fell 8.4% last Thursday. The event was all about the future of self-driving cars. Today, investors are more concerned about self-driving cars than quarterly electric vehicle market share.
Article forwarded from: Jinshi Data
