Tesla overtakes Toyota to become world's most valuable car maker

4 years ago 346
Elon Musk at the launch of Tesla's Cybertruck last yearImage copyright Getty Images Image caption Elon Musk at the launch of Tesla's Cybertruck last year

Tesla has become the world's most valuable carmaker, overtaking Japan's Toyota, after its stock hit a record high.

Shares in the electric carmaker hit a record $1,134 on Wednesday morning, before falling back, leaving it with a market value of $209.47bn (£165bn).

That is roughly $4bn more than Toyota's current stock market value.

However, Toyota sold around 30 times more cars last year and its revenues were more than 10 times higher.

Shares in Tesla have risen more than 160% since the start of 2020, as investors feel more confident about the future of electric vehicles.

That is despite its founder Elon Musk having wiped $14bn off Tesla's value in May after tweeting that its share price was too high.

After years of losses, the US firm has also delivered three profitable quarters in a row and it maintained that momentum during the first three months of 2020 despite the coronavirus outbreak.

Toyota, one of the world's most profitable carmakers, sold 10.46 million vehicles in the year to March and reported revenues of 30,226 billion yen ($281.20bn).

Worth more than GM and Ford

Tesla, in comparison, ended 2019 with $24.6bn in revenues, having delivered just 367,200 vehicles last year.

However, investors are excited by the firm's potential, believing it could dominate the future electric car market.

Tesla is already worth around three times the combined value of US carmakers General Motors and Ford.

Chief Executive Elon Musk in the past said Tesla would deliver at least 500,000 vehicles in 2020, a forecast the company has not changed despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Read Entire Article