Tesla’s reign as most valuable carmaker appears to have been short lived.
Shares in the electric car and new energy specialist have fallen this week despite news of Friday’s Model 3 start of production and a non-auto deal to supply energy storage to South Australia state. This appears to have been offset by a poorer than expected showing in an insurance group crash test in the US and by lower Q2 sales, explained by the company as due to a shortage of battery packs. There have also been suggestions the upcoming, and much cheaper Model 3 may take sales from the ageing Model S which has been little changed since launch several years ago.
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Reuters last night reported Tesla shares fell for the third straight day on Thursday.
Overall, the stock had fallen about 13% this week, taking almost US$8bn off the company’s valuation.
That put General Motors back on the top perch with market capitalization of $52.71bn as Tesla dropped to about $51.8bn, the news agency said.
Reuters earlier reported mining giant Glencore would sell up to 20,000 tonnes of cobalt products to a Chinese company, a move that in turn helps Volkswagen secure car batteries for its shift to electric vehicles.
