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Tesla's historic decade makes it the auto industry's best performer–and it's not even close

A Tesla Model S prototype on the Nurburgring. (Photo: Auto Motor Uund Sport)

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Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) performance in the stock market has surprised many people. Very few analysts expected a small electric car startup based out of Palo Alto, California to become the highest performing automaker in terms of growth, total return, and shareholder value over the past decade.

Investors who have stuck with Tesla since the electric car maker went public in 2010 have seen their investments rise over 1,100%. Data compiled by Bloomberg showed that the auto industry, in general, has appreciated 158% over the past 10 years.

While Musk is seen as one of the most ridiculed automotive CEOs in the business, his company’s performance speaks for itself. After he was forced by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to pay a $20 million fine (on top of another $20 million that Tesla had to pay) for a tweet that allegedly “misled stockholders,” he still inspired confidence among Tesla’s investors. This seemed to have paid off for the company’s supporters, as TSLA recently had its shares spike to over $420 apiece.

Tesla’s sharp and consistent growth has given the company a ranking as the third-most valuable car manufacturer in the world with a $78 billion valuation. This figure trails only Volkswagen ($98 billion) and Toyota ($230 billion) among 38 total manufacturers in the world. Tesla is over 30% more valuable than General Motors and over twice as valued as the Ford Motor Company.

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The company has also successfully outperformed some of the biggest and most consistent car manufacturers in the world in terms of sales. The Model 3 sedan has become the most popular vehicle in the United States’ luxury segment, beating veterans from Japan and Germany. Since the Model S first went on sale in 2012, Tesla has also seen its sales grow 52x (5200%) while the rest of the automotive sector has only seen a 46% growth.

In the past six months, TSLA shares saw a rise of 85%. This is so drastic that the company would have been the best performer in the S&P 500 if it was included in the esteemed list. This also allowed Tesla to be the top company among 38 of its peers that are listed in the Bloomberg Intelligence Global Automobile Index.

Despite the undeniable growth from the company, there are still analysts on Wall Street who believe Tesla’s growth is unimpressive and not worth mentioning. Kynikos Associates’ Jim Chanos stated that the electric car maker is still “one of our biggest and our best short positions.” Notorious Tesla short David Einhorn has insisted that the “wheels are falling off” of Tesla.

These shorts continue to believe this despite more than $2 billion worth of losses, particularly as the company has been in a rally since breaking the $400 mark in mid-December. That being said, some shorts have been leaving due to the damages they sustained, causing short-selling to drop around 9.2%, according to Bloomberg Opinion.

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Tesla’s continuing growth is undeniable and forecasts suggest the company is not even close to finished. Bloomberg analysts suggest 14% more growth by the end of the year, 21% in 2020 and 18% in 2021. This is compared to an estimated 1%, 4%, and 3% growth for legacy automakers in the same time period.

The growth of the electric car market as a whole this decade is notable, to begin with, but Tesla seems to be responsible for the majority of this. With the carmaker now beginning to produce more than just fast and technologically advanced sedans, it seems another decade of growth is in the cards for the company.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Ford is charging for a basic EV feature on the Mustang Mach-E

When ordering a new Ford Mustang Mach-E, you’ll now be hit with an additional fee for one basic EV feature: the frunk.

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Credit: Ford Motor Company

Ford is charging an additional fee for a basic EV feature on its Mustang Mach-E, its most popular electric vehicle offering.

Ford has shuttered its initial Model e program, but is venturing into a more controlled and refined effort, and it is abandoning the F-150 Lightning in favor of a new pickup that is currently under design, but appears to have some favorable features.

However, ordering a new Mustang Mach-E now comes with an additional fee for one basic EV feature: the frunk.

The frunk is the front trunk, and due to the lack of a large engine in the front of an electric vehicle, OEMs are able to offer additional storage space under the hood. There’s one problem, though, and that is that companies appear to be recognizing that they can remove it for free while offering the function for a fee.

Ford is charging $495 for the frunk.

Interestingly, the frunk size varies by vehicle, but the Mustang Mach-E features a 4.7 to 4.8 cubic-foot-sized frunk, which measures approximately 9 inches deep, 26 inches wide, and 14 inches high.

When the vehicle was first released, Ford marketed the frunk as the ultimate tailgating feature, showing it off as a perfect place to store and serve cold shrimp cocktail.

Ford Mach-E frunk is perfect for chowders and chicken wings, and we’re not even joking

It appears the decision to charge for what is a simple advantage of an EV is not going over well, as even Ford loyal customers say the frunk is a “basic expectation” of an EV. Without it, it seems as if fans feel the company is nickel-and-diming its customers.

It will be pretty interesting to see the Mach-E without a frunk, and while it should not be enough to turn people away from potentially buying the vehicle, it seems the decision to add an additional charge to include one will definitely annoy some customers.

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Tesla to improve one of its best features, coding shows

According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.

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Credit: @jojje167 on X

Tesla is looking to upgrade its Matrix Headlights, a unique and high-tech feature that is available on several of its vehicles. The headlights aim to maximize visibility for Tesla drivers while being considerate of oncoming traffic.

The Matrix Headlights Tesla offers utilize dimming of individual light pixels to ensure that visibility stays high for those behind the wheel, while also being considerate of other cars by decreasing the brightness in areas where other cars are traveling.

Here’s what they look like in action:

As you can see, the Matrix headlight system intentionally dims the area where oncoming cars would be impacted by high beams. This keeps visibility at a maximum for everyone on the road, including those who could be hit with bright lights in their eyes.

There are still a handful of complaints from owners, however, but Tesla appears to be looking to resolve these with the coming updates in a Software Version that is currently labeled 2026.2.xxx. The coding was spotted by X user BERKANT:

According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.

Finally, the new system will prevent the high beams from glaring back at the driver. The system is made to dim when it recognizes oncoming cars, but not necessarily objects that could produce glaring issues back at the driver.

Tesla’s revolutionary Matrix headlights are coming to the U.S.

This upgrade is software-focused, so there will not need to be any physical changes or upgrades made to Tesla vehicles that utilize the Matrix headlights currently.

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xAI’s Grok approved for Pentagon classified systems: report

Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations. 

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Credit: xAI

Elon Musk’s xAI has signed an agreement with the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to allow Grok to be used in classified military systems.

Previously, Anthropic’s Claude had been the only AI system approved for the most sensitive military work, but a dispute over usage safeguards has reportedly prompted the Pentagon to broaden its options, as noted in a report from Axios.

Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations. 

The publication reported that xAI agreed to the Pentagon’s requirement that its technology be usable for “all lawful purposes,” a standard Anthropic has reportedly resisted due to alleged ethical restrictions tied to mass surveillance and autonomous weapons use.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to meet with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei in what sources expect to be a tense meeting, with the publication hinting that the Pentagon could designate Anthropic a “supply chain risk” if the company does not lift its safeguards. 

Axios stated that replacing Claude fully might be technically challenging even if xAI or other alternative AI systems take its place. That being said, other AI systems are already in use by the DoD. 

Grok already operates in the Pentagon’s unclassified systems alongside Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Google is reportedly close to an agreement that will result in Gemini being used for classified use, while OpenAI’s progress toward classified deployment is described as slower but still feasible. 

The publication noted that the Pentagon continues talks with several AI companies as it prepares for potential changes in classified AI sourcing.

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