Investor's Corner
Tesla’s more experienced rivals in the US auto market are feeling the Model 3’s presence
When Elon Musk wrote about his secret Master Plan in 2006, he envisioned a reasonably-priced electric vehicle that can take on the best-selling fossil fuel-powered cars in the market. It took years, but the electric car that Musk mentioned 12 years ago is here, and it’s called the Tesla Model 3.
The Model 3 is Tesla’s first attempt at creating a mass-market car. The company’s vehicles prior to the Model 3 — the Model S and Model X — sold well, but they were premium vehicles that compete in the luxury segment. The Model 3 was designed to be something else. It was an electric car designed to provide a viable and superior alternative to fossil fuel-powered automobiles. The Model 3 is even priced aggressively, starting at $35,000, or roughly the price of a top-tier Toyota Camry.
Tesla’s ramp of the Model 3 was not easy. In an interview earlier this year, Elon Musk described the past 12 months, much of which was spent ramping the electric sedan’s production, as one of the most painful and difficult years of his career. As Tesla released its Q3 production and delivery numbers, though, it appeared that the electric car maker has finally left Elon Musk’s self-dubbed “production hell.” Tesla produced a total of 80,142 electric cars in Q3, 53,239 of which were Model 3. Deliveries totaled 83,500 vehicles, which included 55,840 Model 3.
There is no denying that Tesla’s production and delivery figures for the Model 3 in Q3 were encouraging. Tesla has not revealed the monthly sales figures of the Model 3 yet, but early estimates of the electric car’s sales in September point to more than 22,000 units being delivered during the month. This particular number is just an estimate, but the rest of the US auto market, including some of the auto industry’s most respected brands, are starting to feel the presence of the Model 3.
One of these carmakers is BMW AG. In a statement to Bloomberg, Bernhard Kuhnt, Chief Executive Officer of BMW North America, acknowledged Tesla’s increasing presence in the auto market. BMW was among the carmakers that saw a small gain in September, though its 1.3% rise was primarily due to the strength of the BMW X3, a crossover SUV that would eventually be challenged by Tesla’s upcoming Model Y. With the Tesla Model 3, BMW’s passenger cars such as the 3-Series and the 5-Series are seeing intense competition.
“Tesla is now ramping up their volumes, and it’s putting pressure on that market segment. In that environment, I’m very, very pleased to say we were up,” Kuhnt said.
The Model 3’s presence could also be seen in the performance of Mercedes-Benz on September. The legacy carmaker’s deliveries dropped 9.8% overall, and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, which is among the United States’ best-selling luxury sedans, saw a steep 24% plunge. Lexus, Toyota Motor Corp.’s luxury brand, saw a 6.1% decline in September as well.
Perhaps most notable, though, was the drop in the sales of a vehicle that is as ubiquitous as they come — the Toyota Corolla Family. Last August, auto sales tracking website GoodCarBadCar listed the Model 3 as the 5th best-selling passenger car in the United States, directly behind the Toyota Camry, Honda Civic, Honda Accord, and the Toyota Corolla Family. Toyota revealed that the Corolla Family sold 20,797 units in September, a ~20% decline over its sales in August, when 26,155 units of the vehicles were sold. If the 22,000-unit estimate for the Model 3’s September sale proves accurate, then Tesla’s first attempt at a mass-market electric car might have just dethroned one of America’s favorite low-cost automobiles.
What is particularly impressive with the Model 3 is that the vehicle is priced higher than its competitors at the top of the passenger car segment. If the Model 3 did beat the Corolla Family’s September sales numbers, it would mean that the electric car, whose selling price currently averages $60,000 (only premium variants are available for now), just outsold a vehicle that tops out at $22,730 (Corolla Family XSE). With Tesla seemingly setting the stage for the $35,000 base Model 3, cars like the Honda Civic and the Toyota Camry could find themselves facing some steep competition.
Things are looking optimistic for Tesla’s next quarters. Gigafactory 1 is set to receive upgraded battery cell production lines from Panasonic, and new Grohmann machines are expected to make module production “three times faster and three times cheaper.” Wall Street analyst Romit Shah from Nomura Instinet also noted that the company’s numbers this past quarter could prove as Tesla’s break-even point. Shah further stated that when Tesla’s deliveries increase to about 100,000 vehicles per quarter, the company could be profitable and sustainable.
Elon Musk
SpaceX Starship Flight 13 aborted at Zero and Musk just told us what broke
Four Raptor engines failed to ignite at T-zero, forcing SpaceX to scrub Starship Flight 13 Thursday.
SpaceX scrubbed the Starship Flight 13 launch attempt Thursday evening at the last possible moment, after four of the Super Heavy booster’s 33 Raptor 3 engines failed to ignite during the startup sequence. The 90-minute window had opened at 6:45 p.m. EDT from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, and the countdown had proceeded without issue all day, with more than 11.5 million pounds of liquid methane and liquid oxygen being fully loaded into the rocket before the automated abort triggered. SpaceX’s launch directors posted on X, “Standing down from today’s flight test attempt,” and shut down the livestream shortly after.
Musk confirmed the root cause within hours. “Some of the engines didn’t start, triggering an automatic launch abort,” he wrote on X. “To be confident of a good flight, 2 Raptors will be removed and replaced. Most probable launch timing is early next week.” SpaceX engineers began draining propellant tanks immediately and Booster 20 was rolled back to its hangar for inspection.
The timing adds a layer of significance that did not exist during any of the previous 12 Starship flights. This is the first time SpaceX has attempted to launch Starship since the company made its stock market debut in June, listing under ticker SPCX at $135 per share. Public investors are now watching every Starship outcome in real time, and a last-second abort carries more visibility than it would have six months ago.
Flight 13 was designed to be one of the most consequential tests in the program’s history. It was set to carry 20 Starlink V3 satellites, the first operational payload Starship has ever attempted to deploy. Six of those satellites carried external cameras to photograph Starship’s heat shield from the outside during flight, which would act as a self-inspection approach SpaceX has never attempted before. The mission also needed to complete a Raptor engine relight in space, a step SpaceX skipped on Flight 12 in May after losing an engine during ascent. That Flight 12 booster also flipped 90 degrees off course during its boostback burn when five engines failed to reignite.
SpaceX has not announced an official next launch date. Musk’s “early next week” window points to July 21 or 22 at the earliest, pending the engine swap and a return to the pad.
Lucid CEO Silvio Napoli responded to rumors of an imminent bankruptcy that was reportedly being mulled after a report stated the automaker was working with the firm AlixPartners to iron out its next steps.
The company felt a massive loss on Wall Street yesterday, as the report essentially pushed the stock down as much as 55 percent on Tuesday.
The report, published initially by Eletric-Vehicles.com, claimed Lucid was essentially in dire straits and was told by AlixPartners, a commonly used restructuring advisor, to either take shares private or file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Lucid’s head of Communications, Nick Twork, immediately challenged the report and stated the company “has sufficient liquidity to carry its operations well into next year.”
Now, the company’s CEO is chiming in as well, stating that the report is “so far from the facts that they require a direct response.”
Napoli said:
“Lucid is not considering bankruptcy or a transaction to take the company private. Those reports are false. The Board did not explore either scenario. Period.
As disclosed in our most recent quarterly filing, Lucid has sufficient liquidity to fund its operations well into next year.
We work with outside advisors to improve operational performance and execution. They are not advising Lucid on a take-private transaction or bankruptcy, and any suggestion that they have recommended either course of action to management or the Board is false.
My priority is clear: turn this company around. That is where the leadership team and I are focused.
I look forward to providing a full update during our quarterly earnings call on August 4th.”
🚨 Lucid CEO Silvio Napoli calls rumors of financial issues “so far from the facts that they require a direct response.”
Read his full remarks here: https://t.co/t3Pg1NHvzy pic.twitter.com/LvHUPhO4Qf
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 15, 2026
It seems pretty clear that Lucid is confident things will be okay, and, to be honest, they should not have much to worry about, especially considering the company has been backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) for years. It has solid financial backing, and its sales, while weak, are pretty much right on par with a company of this age.
Lucid also sent a Cease & Desist letter to the publication for their report.
Lucid shares have rebounded nicely and are up nearly 21 percent at the time of publication. As soon as the company dispelled the rumors of bankruptcy yesterday, the stock began to climb back toward more reasonable levels.
Electric vehicle maker Lucid Group has denied rumors of an imminent bankruptcy after a report from this morning sent the stock on a dramatic drop on Wall Street, seeing losses of more than 40 percent during trading hours.
Lucid’s Director of Communications, Nick Twork, responded to the report from Eletric-Vehicles.com, which stated the company’s restructuring advisor, AlixPartners, was asked to review two decisions: taking Lucid shares private or filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The report also claims AlixPartners told the Lucid board to “concentrate on Gravity production while improving its quality, and to temporarily hold back the Lucid Air, the sedan that has defined the company since its launch.”
Twork said:
$LCID The rumors are completely false. The company has sufficient liquidity to carry its operations well into next year, as recently published in its last quarterly filings, and it has not formed any special Board committee to explore the scenarios reported today. Our focus is…
— Nick Twork (@ntwork) July 14, 2026
Shares rebounded after the response to the report, halving its losses as the trading day neared 3 p.m. Eastern.
Lucid has struggled to get its sales off the ground and into more respectable numbers, but the company is in its early years, when things are hard to begin with. It is also backed by several notable investors, including the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has nearly limitless money and likely would not ditch an investment of this size so soon.
Lucid shares were down just 14 percent at the time of publication, a far cry from the 55 percent its losses topped out at during the day.
SpaceX Starship Flight 13 aborted at Zero and Musk just told us what broke
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