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China Automaker and Tesla Battling for Global Dominance in EV Market, Others Creeping In

In 2008, Tesla delivered its first electric vehicle, the Tesla Roadster, to Tesla co-founder, chairman, and product architect, Elon Musk. The company would go on to produce 500 similar vehicles through June 2009, signaling a 'headstart' in the transformation of automotive manufacturing.
BYD 7 photos
Photo: BYD
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Fast forward to last year, the most dominant electric vehicle manufacturer in recent years sold 936,222 electric vehicles; miles ahead of many other EV makers. This year the company is on pace to crest the 1 million vehicle mark if market conditions improve.

However, all is not roses in the garden for the modern-day visionary Musk. The company got a big jump on the competition as they failed to commit to believing consumers would buy into the electric vehicle movement Musk initiated. However, the environment is changing. Slowly but, surely invasive species' are settling in the Tesla garden, threatening their growth.

The biggest immediate threat to Tesla's dominance in the marketplace is not coming from startups like Rivian or Lucid. Oh no, no, the big, multi-generational, legacy, automakers around the world took notice recently and have poured billions of dollars into developing, manufacturing, and selling, EVs.

In late 2019, Tesla went right at one of their biggest competitors, BYD, by beginning production of EVs on their home turf in China. BYD, the multinational conglomerate, delivered 641,350 EVs in the first half of the year, while Tesla delivered 564,743. Tesla could overtake the Chinese automaker if production is not shut down due to cover-related issues, as occurred earlier this year.

Legacy American automakers are still well off of the pace. GM sold just over 7,600 EVs in the first half of the year. Ford delivered over 23,000 in the same period and German-based Volkswagen AG delivered 217,100 EVs.

Other competition is coming as Hyundai, which recently told Automotive News Europe of plans to introduce an entry-level car in Europe selling for 20,000 euro ($20,372) by the end of the year or early 2023.
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