US electric cars: Tesla threatens to lose its absolute majority
While Tesla's sales are slumping, other manufacturers are selling significantly more e-cars. In neighboring Canada, Tesla is facing additional trouble.
Which cars do Americans really choose?
(Image: Daniel AJ Sokolov)
Tesla is the largest manufacturer of electric cars and its market leadership is beyond doubt in the foreseeable future. In its home country of the USA, however, the company is threatened with losing the absolute majority of its share of the market for new electric cars. This is because Tesla's sales are falling, while its competitors are selling significantly more electric vehicles.
Bloomberg concludes this from data from market researchers Markline and Cox Automotive. According to the data, Tesla sold 618,000 new vehicles in the United States of America in the twelve months up to and including May. All competitors together sold 597,000 electric vehicles in the same period. The gap has therefore narrowed and could be closed as early as June.
Tesla itself does not provide information on a monthly basis, but only on a quarterly basis, and does not break down global sales by region. Market researchers are therefore reliant on other sources, including registration figures.
Next week, several manufacturers, including Tesla, will announce their sales figures for the second quarter. Bloomberg expects Tesla to account for less than half of the US market for new e-cars, for the first time since 2018. The market leader has a narrow portfolio, with Model Y and Model 3 accounting for 95 percent of sales according to Cox Automotive. Accordingly, the competition is focusing on market segments in which Tesla is not present.
Strong growth at Ford and Toyota
According to Co x Automotive, Tesla suffered a 13.3 percent decline (year-on-year) in all-electric US sales in the first quarter. This roughly corresponds to the decline at VW (-12.2%), but is even lower than the slump at General Motors (20.5%), which discontinued the popular Chevrolet Bolt EV/EUV in the previous year. On the other hand, Ford and Toyota (which is much smaller in the e-market) recorded growth of over 85% according to the statistics.
Electric vehicles from Mercedes, BMW, Rivian and Hyundai/Kia were all up by well over 50 percent. Six of the top ten e-providers have therefore grown significantly, three have shrunk and Nissan is in the black; however, Tesla has such a large market share that Tesla's weakness caused the overall market to shrink in the first quarter.
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For the second quarter, Cox Automotive expects the electric car market to stop shrinking year-on-year; new electric models from General Motors and Hyundai/Kia should help here. However, electric cars are unlikely to take any further market share from combustion engines and hybrids at this time.
Canada's China tariffs jeopardize Tesla's business
Bad news for Tesla is coming across the northern border of the USA: Canada's government is planning to impose significantly higher import duties on electric cars of Chinese provenance. A US tariff of up to 100 percent on Chinese electric cars is forcing Canada to act to avoid being overrun by Chinese vehicles at dumping prices, which would have to pay high customs duties in the US and the EU. In addition, Chinese electric cars could be excluded from Canadian sales subsidies.
According to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, Canada is facing "unfair competition from China's deliberate, state-directed strategy of overproduction, which undermines the ability of Canada's electric car industry to compete in the domestic and international market". Tesla vehicles from Shanghai account for the lion's share of electric cars imported to Canada from China.
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