Electric carmaker Tesla reached a market valuation of over $270 billion in August, propelling them over $70 billion more in valuation when compared to top global carmaker Toyota to be the most valuable carmaker in the world.
Tesla trailed the Japanese car manufacturer Toyota earlier in the year, which has held a steady market cap around $200 billion throughout the pandemic.
At the beginning of the year, Tesla had an astronomical rise in market valuation, more than doubling its stock value over the first three months. The surge was attributed to Tesla’s third-quarter profit from last year, as well as new factories being built and quick car deliveries to customers. Tesla has also led the pack in electric car manufacturing, infrastructure and marketing, a growing market that all car manufacturers are looking to fill as quickly as possible. Still, Elon Musk's unicorn is still perplexing many analysts, leaving many scratching their heads as to why the company continues to balloon in value.
The second-closest U.S. car manufacturer in market valuation is GM, followed by other car manufacturers like Ford and Fiat Chrysler. However, while Tesla and Toyota have rebounded from losses sustained at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, these manufacturers are still well below where they started at the beginning of 2020 - hovering around $20 to $30 billion in market cap.
