Tesla Motors’ list of rivals is growing longer and longer, and the latest entrants are Audi and Porsche, both owned by Volkswagen. On Monday at an auto show in Frankfurt, the luxury automakers showcased battery-powered vehicles to take on Tesla, says Reuters.
More entrants to expand electric car market
Analysts are divided on how the new competition from Audi and Porsche will impact Tesla. Experts believe the new cars could help in expanding the market for electric vehicles but could also challenge Tesla as Audi and Porsche are popular brands.
“It will certainly sharpen the public focus on electric vehicles and raise overall awareness. Consumers are also set to gain from growing offerings of electric cars, especially in the performance segment,” Sascha Gommel, a Commerzbank analyst, told Reuters. Audi and Porsche are expected to market their cars by 2018.
Ivan Drury, senior manager at Edmunds, told Reuters that the biggest challenge all new entrants face against Tesla is “the benchmarks have already been set, and the bar is rather high.” The advantage with Tesla is not that they were the first to come up with an all-electric vehicle, but instead that they were the first to offer an electric vehicle without compromising on the “styling, performance metrics and range,” said Drury.
Audi, Porsche can best Tesla in a few areas
Though the cars from Audi and Porsche are expected to have a range of 500 km, it will be hard for them to surpass the name Tesla has made in the electric car market. Many note the areas where Audi and Porsche could actually beat Tesla are in handling and total driving performance. These two luxury automakers have long been successful in these areas.
Tesla stock has been quick to make a rebound after dropping more than 10% last month primarily due to global market concerns, volatile currency and the global market selloff. So far this month, the stock has gained 0.71%. The stock has a 52-week low of $181.4 and a 52-week high of $286.65.
On Monday, Tesla shares closed up 1.18% at $253.19. Year to date, the stock is up by almost 14% versus a loss of 5.12% for the S&P 500 Index, while in the last year, the stock is down by over 9%.
