MOTORING NEWS - Tesla has become the second-largest US car maker in terms of market capitalisation, displacing Ford, whose sales lagged amid concerns about the ability of the US market to keep growing.
Many major manufacturers reported US sales declines in March compared to a year ago, but Tesla over the weekend said it saw a huge jump in vehicles delivered to consumers in the first three months of the year. That was enough to send the electric car maker's stock soaring as investors punished major car brands for reporting lower than expected March sales.
Tesla said it delivered 25 000 of its high-tech vehicles in the first quarter of 2017 which is a 69% surge compared to the first three months of 2016. This seems to indicate it was on target to meeting its goal of 50 000 vehicle deliveries by mid-2017. Late last year, the company reported its first quarterly profit in more than three years, but then slipped back into being unprofitable the next quarter.
But at the end of March, Tesla Motors overtook Ford for the number two spot and closed the gap with GM, the biggest US automaker by market capitalisation.
Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk marked the occasion on Twitter with a dig at short sellers, investors who bet that a company's stock will decline. "Stormy weather in Shortville," Musk wrote.
For the industry as a whole, it may indeed be stormy weather. Car companies failed to meet forecasts of an overall March sales increase, which fell instead industry-wide by 1,6% according to an estimate by the tracking firm Autodata. The seasonally-adjusted annual rate for US vehicle sales fell to 16,62 million units, compared to 16,67 million units a year ago, Autodata reported.
GM saw sales gain 1,6%, helped by strong local demand for light trucks and sport utility vehicles, as well as bigger discounts. Nissan sales also rose by 3,2% compared to March 2016, helped by its popular Rogue compact SUV.
However, Ford reported that sales fell with a worse than expected 7,2%, while Toyota sales dropped 2,1% compared to the same period last year. FCA US, the American arm of Fiat Chrysler, continued to struggle, reporting a 5% decline in March, while in the first three months of the year, sales were down 8%.
Record Honda truck and SUV sales could not help the Japanese car maker notch an overall increase last month. Sales slipped 0,7% percent, due to declines at its Acura luxury brand.
