US electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Inc has reached a major milestone by officially producing 1 million electric cars. The company's CEO, Elon Musk, celebrated the event with a post on social media, congratulating the entire team for reaching the landmark figure.
Reaching the major milestone is a major confidence boost for investors of the company, most of whom likely experienced losses after Tesla's stock prices dropped by over 13 percent at the start of the week. Similar to other automotive stocks, Tesla's stocks experienced a significant dip following the collapse of the pact between OPEC and Russia, which had sent oil prices downward to new lows.
The NASDAQ Composite Index, which Tesla is a part of, had dropped by over 7.3 percent during the start of the week. On Tuesday, Tesla's stock prices recovered slightly and were 10 percent higher.
Tesla managed to hit the major milestone of 1 million cars produced through just four electric vehicle models. This is an impressive feat for the electric vehicle company given the number of models it has available. The four models the company produces that are commercially available are namely its two sedans, the Tesla Model 3 and the Model S, and its two sports utility vehicles (SUVs), the Model Y and the Model X. The Tesla Model Y is expected to roll out into showroom floors by the end of this quarter.
The announcement of its achievement will likely serve as a wakeup call for other major manufacturers for them to accelerate their electrification efforts. None of the major companies are close to becoming a formidable competitor to Tesla in the electric vehicle segment. However, most have announced ambitious plans of fully shifting into electric mobility.
German carmaker BMW Group is one of those companies that is ramping up efforts to go fully electric. The company announced last week that it will be rolling out new electric models in the coming years, starting with a commercial version of its electric concept car, the BMW Concept i4. BMW CEO, Oliver Zipse, previously stated that the company has already sold more than 500,000 electrified vehicles so far. Zipse claimed that the company is aiming to sell one million electric vehicles within the next two years.
BMW's rival, the Volkswagen Group, is also ramping up its efforts to go fully electric. The company recently rolled out its ID.3 fully electric model, which it stated will be the first of over 70 new electric models it will be releasing throughout the next decade.
