Why Tesla is gradually losing its EV dominance

Tesla (TSLA) should be looking over its shoulder at the fully charged EVs barreling right toward its castle.

While Elon Musk's non-Twitter creation still has a stronghold on the EV market based on name recognition, market share, and production capabilities, the clear takeaway from this year’s New York International Auto Show (which Tesla was not a part of) is that traditional automakers such as Ford (F), General Motors (GM), and Nissan (NSANY) are all gunning for Tesla's dominance and lucrative profit margins.

And they may just have success at that target practice.

Hyundai aims to lead the EV pack

“Tesla who,” Hyundai Motor Americas CEO Randy Parker quipped when Yahoo Finance Live asked about Hyundai's IONIQ 6, an EV that was named 'Car of the Year' for 2023.

The impressive specs and pricing of Hyundai's IONIQ 6 places it in direct competition with Tesla's Model 3, the second-most-popular EV in the U.S. Hyundai's IONIQ 6 starts at $41,600 with a range of up to 240 miles. By comparison, the $41,990 Model 3 reaches 272 miles on one charge.

Gap closed.

“The IONIQ 6 from a technology standpoint, you can’t do better,” Parker crowed.

And it’s that type of Tesla mentality that’s likely to test the EV leadership of Musk's EV outfit.

Older automakers known for their gas-powered rides are ramping up their push into the EV market with edgy new styles and attractive specs like those showcased at this year's New York Auto Show, including the Kia EV9, Nissan Ariya, Chevrolet Equinox EV, and Ram 1500 REV electric truck.

These will be added to a class of solid EVs already in the market like Ford's F-150 Lightning and Mach-E and the coming Chevy Silverado.

What's next for Tesla

Tesla's Cybertruck isn't even on the market yet. The company is reportedly working on a compact EV dubbed the Model 2, but it's unclear when that will arrive.

And more EV models, not from Tesla, are coming — and fast.

S&P Global estimates the EV market will grow from just over 50 models today to 78 by year-end before more than doubling to 160 by the end of 2025.

S&P Global Mobility’s Tom Libby told Yahoo Finance in a chat that "competitive pressure is pushing OEMs to move quickly,' and that Tesla's market share will ‘keep declining' as a result.

The inroads into Tesla's dominance are already being felt without question.

General Motors sold more than 20,000 EVs for the first time in a quarter, fueled by demand for its cheaper Chevy Bolt EV, which accounted for 95% of the auto giant’s EV sales. And according to GM, Bolt sales are expected to soar to reach 70,000 by the end of this year.

That may not sound too impressive when you compare it to Tesla’s record first-quarter delivery numbers, which totaled 422,875 globally. But data compiled by S&P Global Mobility shows Tesla's competitors are gaining ground.

Tesla’s U.S. EV share subsequently fell from nearly three-quarters of the market in January 2022 to just over half in January 2023. Within that same time frame, General Motors' EV market share grew from 0.1% to 9.9%, and Ford’s foothold grew to 8.4%.

The pressure on Tesla is one of the factors forcing the carmaker to slash prices again. Tesla marked down its vehicles for the fifth time this year, its latest effort to boost demand and regain lost market share.

"In this EV arms race Tesla needs to defend their turf and customer base with price cuts," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in an email to Yahoo Finance. "Everyone is trying to catch up. Tesla cutting prices were the near-term pain for long-term gain strategic poker move."

RBC analyst Tom Narayan also thinks lower prices could help Tesla's demand issue, telling Yahoo Finance Live that lower prices are a "great way to really steal market share."

Despite some upbeat outlooks from Wall Street on price cuts and the fact Tesla's stock has been a favorite among investors since the start of the year, shares are still off more than 40% in the past 12 months. That's a much starker decline than competitors Ford and General Motors, with respective one-year drops of 14% and 10%.

The relative underperformance of Tesla's stock proves some investors are looking at its recent price cuts and quarterly delivery miss as a sign of trouble ahead for the electric vehicle maker. And perhaps a sign that mighty Tesla is losing its grip on an industry it has dominated for the last five years.

Either way, it will be electric for investors to bet on.

Seana Smith is an anchor and journalist at Yahoo Finance. Follow Smith on Twitter @SeanaNSmith. Tips on deals, mergers, activist situations, or anything else? Email [email protected].

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