Tesla is ranked as the world's best-selling plug-in and battery electric passenger car manufacturer, with a market share of 16% of the plug-in segment and 23% of the battery-electric segment 2020 sales. Through its subsidiary SolarCity, Tesla develops and is a major installer of solar photovoltaic systems in the United States. Tesla is also one of the largest global suppliers of battery energy storage systems, with 3 GWh of battery storage supplied in 2020.
At the time of Tesla's founding, electric vehicles were very expensive. Tesla's strategy was to first produce high-price, low-volume vehicles, such as sports cars, for which customers are less sensitive to price. This would allow them to progressively bring down the cost of batteries, which in turn would allow them to offer cheaper and higher-volume cars.
Tesla's first vehicle, the Roadster, was low-volume (less than 2,500 were produced) and priced at over $100,000. The next models, the Model S and Model X, are more affordable but still luxury vehicles. The most recent models, the Model 3 and the Model Y, are priced still lower and aimed at a higher volume market, selling over 100,000 vehicles each quarter. Tesla continuously updates the hardware of its cars rather than waiting for a new model year, as opposed to nearly every other car manufacturer.
Tesla does not pay for direct advertisement. The company aims to educate customers through its showrooms situated in malls and other high-traffic areas, and sells its vehicles online rather than through a conventional dealer network. The company is the first automaker in the United States to sell cars directly to consumers.
Tesla has a high degree of vertical integration, reaching 80% in 2016. The company produces vehicle components as well as building proprietary stations where customers can charge their vehicles. Vertical integration is rare in the automotive industry, where companies typically outsource 80% of components to suppliers and focus on engine manufacturing and final assembly.
Tesla was the first automaker to use batteries containing thousands of small, cylindrical, lithium-ion commodity cells like those used in consumer electronics.
Tesla reported 2020 vehicle deliveries of 499,550, which was better than analysts' estimates but shy of the company's goal of 500,000. Tesla is ranked as the world's best-selling plug-in and battery electric passenger car manufacturer, with a market share of 16% of the plug-in segment and 23% of the battery electric segment 2020 sales. In 2020, Tesla accounted for nearly 80% of all battery-electric car registrations in the U.S. At the end of 2020, Tesla's global sales since 2012 totaled over 1.4 million units.
On March 9, 2020, the company produced its 1 millionth electric car, becoming the first auto manufacturer to achieve such a milestone.
According to en.wikipedia.org
