Tesla is many things. Driving slowly is definitely not one of them.
But for Bank of America senior auto analyst John Murphy, Tesla is actually not moving fast enough. In fact, the Texas-based electric-car company could soon find itself overtaken by veteran automakers like General Motors and Ford.
In its annual car wars In a recent study, Bank of America predicted that Ford and General Motors would surpass Tesla’s electric vehicle sales by 2025. According to Murphy, Tesla’s current 70% EV market share could fall to just under 11% over the next three years.
Meanwhile, Murphy expects Ford and GM to approach 15% thanks to their new electric car offerings. The analyst noted that the problem at Tesla lies in its lack of a product portfolio and the fact that Elon Musk is slow to introduce products.
“He introduces products more slowly. It doesn’t have a full product portfolio, so there’s a huge opportunity for manufacturers to close the gap and catch up a bit,” Murphy said.
Tesla has experienced its own share of delays, and aside from vehicles like the Model Y starting deliveries earlier than expected, the company’s projects like the Cybertruck have been delayed multiple times. This, according to Murphy, could see Tesla falling behind for years to come.
“One of the biggest mistakes when you look back at it in five to 10 years is that Tesla couldn’t put the free money it could have gotten to better use, raise a lot more, open capacity faster, grow much faster and close the door.” .
“He (Musk) didn’t do it. He wasn’t moving fast enough. He didn’t realize what was going on in the market. He had tremendous hubris that they would never catch him, they would never be able to do what he is doing, and they are doing it,” Murphy said.
Murphy’s conclusions are quite interesting given that Tesla has suffered from supply shortages in recent years. Today, with just two vehicles — the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover — the company is essentially holding back a wave of competitors and still winning. It should also be noted that Tesla’s vehicles are constantly being improved, usually through free over-the-air software updates.
In a way, the Bank of America analyst’s conclusions about Tesla and Elon Musk’s “hubris” seem pretty wrong. With the Cybertruck and Semi launching and the Model Y seemingly on track to become one of the best-selling cars in the world, Tesla’s EV market share doesn’t appear to be in jeopardy.
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