For the first time ever, Tesla, the solar panel manufacturer and new American car company, has passed Ford in stock market value.
Ford has long been an icon of American motor vehicles since their creation 114 years ago. Tesla, however, reached a $48 billion value this week, climbing past Ford at $44 billion. In terms of being the most valued American car company, the two are passed only by General Motors at market worth $51 billion.
The Palo Alto, California-based corporation has sold roughly 40,600 vehicles in the last year, with 25,000 cars shipped out worldwide for their most recent first quarter, greatly surpassing analysts’ expectations. The increase shows an astonishing 69% improvement from this last year’s first quarter alone.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk estimates that by the end of 2018, the company will pass 500,000 shipments. Three years from now, he expects to sell 1 million models.
As of today, there are seven versions of the Model S available on the market, as well as the Model X; however the company has revealed that they will be unveiling the finished Model 3 design in July. The sedan will reportedly be selling at $35,000, as opposed to the more expensive models at $68,000.