Mustang Mach-E rivals Tesla in terms of sales
Tesla is losing market share among US electric vehicle buyers, and the Ford Mustang Mach-E appears to be the beneficiary.
Analysis by investment banking firm Morgan Stanley shows that Tesla's share of the US electric vehicle market fell to 69 percent in February, down from 81 percent a year ago.
Tesla sales in the US are still on the rise, according to this analysis, due to the increased appetite of US car buyers for electric cars.
Morgan Stanley estimates that industry-wide US electric vehicle sales rose 34 percent in February, compared to the previous year, even as sales of traditional internal combustion engine vehicles fell 5.4 percent.
Tesla only releases global quarterly sales reports, not monthly or US sales as many other automakers do.
Tesla will likely enjoy a 5.4 percent gain in US sales in February, according to Morgan Stanley's analysis.
And new electric offerings from traditional automakers have more than doubled sales of combined electric vehicles in the United States, to 9,527 units.
Ford's Mustang Mach-E, which won the Best SUV of the Year award this year and began deliveries in late January, achieved sales of 3,739 units in February, according to Ford figures.
Ford said:
A fifth of the Mustang Mach-E cars that sold in February were in California, a major market for the industry, and in 2019 the state accounted for nearly half of Tesla's Model 3 sales.
Morgan Stanley's report stated that a Ford car could challenge Tesla due to the fact that Ford has more history and brand recognition.
The CEO of Tesla appeared to praise Ford for its role in the electric car market and said: Tesla and Ford are the only US automakers that have not gone bankrupt out of 1,000 auto startups.
Tesla faces competition from automakers such as Porsche, BMW, Audi, and Jaguar in the Model S and Model X cars, as well as from Chevrolet, Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen, Nissan, and Ford in the Model 3 and Model Y cars.
Volkswagen surpassed Tesla in sales of electric cars in several European markets, including Norway, where electric cars now make up the majority of new car sales.
Tesla is also facing new competition from General Motors, which has recently launched the Chevrolet Bolt electric SUV.