<img src = "https://www.theatlas.com/i/atlas_cQdsgvqhC.png" alt = "Diagram from TheAtlas.com [19659003] Nevertheless, Tesla's ambitions will require more than owning the US market. Nissan Leaf remains the world's most popular electric car, with Nissan announcing 400,000 cumulative sales in March this year and is set to hit half a million next year, with an average of around 50,000 annual global sales since 2013, a number that rose to more than 85,000 in 2018.
Unlike Tesla, Nissan has factories around the world, three of which, in Japan, England and the United States (Tennessee), produce the blade so that the hatchback can be changed for local markets. to keep costs low, much of the tool and assembly lines are in shared facilities, keeping the Leaf price of $ 29,990 for a standard 2019 model, and as low as $ 11,000 for a used model from 2015.
While Tesla characterizes its style, Nissan owes its success to the low prices and functionality. a dynamic play in the global EV market is similar to the war on smartphones. Apple has grabbed the high end of the market with powerful, high priced iPhones running its iOS operating system, while Google's Android owns most of the rest. There is a strong domestic and international divide in market shares. In the US, Apple has about 40% of US mobile operating systems. Abroad, Android commands 76% thanks to its functional and affordable appeal (eclipsing Apple's 22% share).
Despite Tesla's dream of owning the large EV market, it could end up owning the premium disc, even with lower cost models on the way. Other automakers are eager to snap up the rest. There are around 40 plug-in EVs on showroom floors this year, and we're about to see the arrival of at least a dozen more electric models as car manufacturers transfer their factories to electric powertrains.
That would not be the worst-case scenario for Tesla. Apple has routinely captured most of the profits in the smartphone market (some years, almost all of them), although other manufacturers sell far more phones with a slim margin. Like Apple, Tesla could enjoy the fruits of a highly differentiated product and vertical integration in its supply chain.
But David Undercoffler, chief editor of Autolist.com, predicts Tesla's transition to selling mass-market cars won't be easy. Having built a name that sells luxury EVs, Tesla will find it difficult to cut costs. The company has boasted of trimming its capital expenditures, but it is up to manufacturers with decades of experience to squeeze out efficiency (and amortize equipment and facilities over long production runs).
With EV competition heated and median EV prices falling, the dominance of the Model 3 is no longer as secure as it seemed when it launched. Tesla is now aiming to sell as many as 400,000 cars this year, many of them Model 3. From the previous quarter, it wasn't quite halfway to the target, having sold 158,375 cars during the first half of this year.
"It may not be when the Model 3 surpasses the Leaf, but if," says Undercoffler. Much rests on whether the demand for Model 3 has peaked, and whether Model Y is stealing future growth. Nissan is not idle. The new 226-mile battery (up to 150 miles) promises to increase Leaf sales even as the popularity of the current model has grown. "Model 3 will have its work cut for it if it hopes to one day catch the magazine," says Undercoffler.
