A report released by market research firm Cox Automotive on Thursday showed that U.S. electric vehicle sales exceeded 300,000 units for the first time in the third quarter, but the market share of industry leader Tesla fell to an all-time low. Tesla captured just half of the U.S. EV market in the third quarter, down from 62% in the first quarter, even as the company led by Musk launched a price war to solidify its position in the fiercely competitive electric vehicle field.
However, Cox Automotive said that with the launch of Tesla’s Cybertruck electric pickup truck, the downward trend may be reversed.
Trying to catch up, other automakers are also aggressively cutting prices to combat a tough demand environment caused by high inflation and rising borrowing costs.
"Higher inventory levels, greater product availability and downward price pressure are all helping to spur continued linear growth in electric vehicle sales in the U.S.," Cox Automotive said.
The company added that the price war started by Tesla had driven the average price of electric vehicles down to $50,683 in September from $52,212 in August.
The report shows that the total sales of electric vehicles in the United States increased by nearly 50% year-on-year in the third quarter, accounting for 7.9% of the total industry sales, setting a record high.
Although Tesla still holds 56.5% of the market so far this year, it is steadily declining compared with 65.4% last year, 68.2% in 2021 and 79.4% in 2020, according to Experian data.