It’s been a great news week for Tesla.
The American company is now valued at US$1 trillion (A$1.33 trillion), it’s fulfilling the single-largest electric vehicle order from a car rental company, and its Model 3 has become Europe’s best-selling vehicle.
At the time of writing, Tesla’s share price sits at US$1024.86, down fractionally on its all-time high earlier on October 25 of US$1036.63 (A$1383.72).
Tesla’s soaring market capitalisation is especially noteworthy when you consider the company only reached a market cap of US$100 billion in January 2020.
Wild $T1mes!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 25, 2021
Share prices climbed 13 per cent on the back of news Hertz was ordering 100,000 Tesla vehicles by the end of 2022.
It’s part of the rental firm’s plan to offer the largest EV rental fleet in North America and one of the largest in the world.
It’ll make Teslas available in major North American markets plus parts of Europe, while also installing new EV charging infrastructure across its global operations.
Bloomberg reports sources familiar with the deal have put the total revenue for Tesla at US$4.2 billion (A$5.6 billion), suggesting Hertz is paying close to list price for the vehicles.
It’s an ambitious play for Hertz, particularly as it only exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings on July 1, 2021. It entered these in May 2020 after having been steamrolled by COVID-19.
The deal accounts for around one-tenth of Tesla’s total available production volume at present.
Hertz was the first US rental company to add EVs to its fleet. It’s currently headed by interim CEO Mark Fields, formerly the CEO of Ford.
The deal reportedly still allows Hertz to buy EVs from other companies.
In 2020, Hertz’s largest supplier of cars, SUVs and pickup trucks was General Motors, followed by Nissan and Ford.
In another win for the company, Tesla has achieved several firsts over in Europe during the month of September.
Its Model 3 was the first EV to top the best sellers list, according to automotive data analysts JATO Dynamics.
This was also the first time a vehicle manufactured outside of Europe has occupied the top spot, though Tesla will soon begin producing vehicles at its new Berlin gigafactory.
With 24,591 sales in September, the Model 3 secured market share of 2.6 per cent.
The Renault Clio was some ways back with 18,264 sales, followed closely by the Dacia Sandero (17,988) and Volkswagen Golf (17,507).
Overall, Tesla has 24 per cent of the electric vehicle market in Europe. That puts it ahead of Volkswagen (22 per cent), Stellantis (13 per cent) and Hyundai-Kia (11 per cent).
While EV sales are rising in Europe, the Model 3 sedan’s performance stands in contrast with passenger vehicle sales overall, which represent a shrinking part of the overall market.
SUVs are presently on track to reach 50 per cent market share in Europe.
Fortunately for Tesla, it now has the Model Y on hand.
The recently introduced EV SUV was the 28th best-selling vehicle in Europe in September, outselling the likes of the Fiat Panda, Peugeot 3008 and Volkswagen ID.3.
With 8926 sales, it was the second best-selling EV in Europe.
MORE: Everything Tesla Model 3
