Despite sales struggles, two Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) models dominate the American electric vehicle (EV) market. In the final quarter of last year, 26% of EVs sold nationwide were the Tesla Model Y, 15% were Model 3, and no other car model was over 6%.

At this point, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), General Motors, and Hyundai/Kia are each approaching 10% of the U.S. market share, but each has spent billions of dollars on EV units, which continue to lose money. Ford has likely lost $20 billion already. Tesla, on the other hand, makes money.

Ford offers the best example of the enormous legacy car company investments in EVs that have yielded little. Ford’s Mustang Mach-E crossover is named after its iconic sports car, which was first sold in 1964. Ford forecasted it would sell 100,000 Mustangs that year. It sold 400,000. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the new Mach-E had only 4.4% of the U.S. market. It has offered heavy incentives, such as aggressive financing of 0% for 72 months.

Another example of Ford’s ambitious hopes is its EV flagship, the F-150 Lightning. The gasoline-powered F-series pickup represents about 35% of Ford’s total sales in the United States. The gasoline-powered F-150 has been the best-selling vehicle in the United States for over 40 decades. However, the power of the F-150 brand did not extend to EVs. Only 2.5% of EV sales in the fourth quarter were F-150 Lightnings.

Is Tesla Slipping?

It is hard to gauge why Tesla has had such considerable success. Its models are not new. The Model Y was introduced in 2020, and the Model 3 was introduced in 2017. The conventional thinking in the car industry is that models must be refreshed every few years.

Among the other theories about Tesla’s sales is that CEO Elon Musk has been a U.S. business rockstar. Because of Tesla and his SpaceX rocket company, he was called the Thomas Edison of the 21st century.

Tesla faces an unprecedented car industry challenge when figures for first-quarter 2025 EV sales in the United States are released. Musk has become President Trump’s primary lieutenant and a prominent right-wing figure. There is anecdotal evidence that this has badly hurt Tesla’s U.S. sales. If his EV rivals gain market share in the U.S. this quarter, it may be because Tesla loses so many sales. GM and Ford will not care about the reason as much as their EV businesses have started to gain traction.

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