According to a Cox Automotive study released on Thursday, sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in the US increased to over 300,000 for the first time in the third quarter, while market leader Tesla’s share fell to an all-time low.
Despite launching a price battle to strengthen its position in the cutthroat EV market, Elon Musk’s company currently only controls half of the market, down from 62% in the first quarter.
With the introduction of its Cybertruck electric pickup truck, which is scheduled for customer delivery in the current quarter, the corporation might, according to the market research organisation, reverse the negative trend.
Playing catch-up, rival automakers have been aggressively lowering prices to combat a challenging demand climate brought on by elevated borrowing costs and high inflation.
“Higher inventory levels, more product availability, and downward pricing pressure have helped spur continued linear growth of EV sales in the U.S. market,” Cox stated.
According to Cox, the average price of an electric vehicle dropped from $52,212 in August to $50,683 in September as a result of the pricing war that Tesla initiated.
According to the research, third-quarter overall EV sales increased by almost 50% over the same period last year and represented a record 7.9% of industry sales.
Rivian Automotive confirmed its yearly production target of 52,000 automobiles and delivered more cars in the third quarter than analysts had predicted.
While planned renovations at its plants to roll out a newer version of the Model 3 mass-market vehicle necessitated production halts, Tesla missed market estimates for deliveries in the third quarter.
Although Tesla is the market leader in the US, industry research firm Canalys stated earlier this month that more EV options are needed to meet the growing demand for electric vehicles.