Tesla Dominance Pushes Major Carmaker to Exit Electric Vehicles

The electric vehicle industry's recent growth has been remarkable with automakers revealing, producing and delivering new models and upgrading existing models on the market seemingly daily.

The industry's leading company, Tesla  (TSLA) - Get Free Report, set a record for deliveries in the first half of the year with about 889,000 EVs delivered through June 30. The company had already surprised the industry in the first quarter of 2023, as its Model Y sports utility vehicle became the world's best-selling car with about 267,200 vehicles sold in the first three months of the year ahead of Toyota, which sold 256,400 Corolla units and 214,700 RAV4 vehicles worldwide.

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Tesla is expected to energize the industry again when it delivers its new Cybertruck pickup at the end of the third quarter, most likely at the end of September, CEO Elon Musk has said.

Rivian  (RIVN) - Get Free Report had the best-selling all-electric pickup truck in 2022, selling 20,332 of its R1T vehicles, while Ford's  (F) - Get Free Report F-150 Lightning EV came in second with 15,617 pickups sold.

New Pickup Truck EVs Coming Soon 

General Motors'  (GM) - Get Free Report Chevrolet is getting ready to deliver its new Chevy Silverado EV pickup, which the company has said might be available for purchase sometime in fall 2023. Stellantis  (STLA) - Get Free Report said it will enter the electric pickup market a little later as its all-electric 2025 Ram 1500 REV, its first battery electric light-duty pickup truck that will be built in the US, will be available in the fourth quarter of 2024.

It wouldn't be surprising if Tesla surpassed all electric vehicle makers in truck deliveries shortly after releasing the Cybertruck on the market. Musk said five days after the vehicle was unveiled in November 2019 that the company had 187,000 orders. It wouldn't be difficult for Tesla to surpass Rivian's and Ford's delivery numbers if production can keep up with demand.

With all this news about high demand for new EV products hitting the market, it would be rare for automakers to discontinue popular EV brands already on the market. But, believe it or not, that has happened.

Nissan  (NSANY) - Get Free Report was one of the pioneers of the EV industry when it introduced the Leaf in 2010, an early mass-produced EV. The Japanese carmaker has said it plans to discontinue its small, affordable EV in the next few years and replace it with a new EV sometime in 2026.

GM's 2023 Chevy Bolt has been one of the most popular and affordable EVs on the market with a manufacturer's suggest retail price beginning at $26,500. GM originally planned to increase production this year from about 44,000 Bolts in 2022 to 70,000 in 2023. But the company surprised the industry when it decided to discontinue manufacturing Bolts in April.

GM CEO Mary Barra, however, changed course during the company's July 25 earnings call and confirmed that the Detroit automaker would bring back the Chevy Bolt EV under its third generation battery technology.

Mazda Discontinues Its MX-30 SUV in the US 

Mazda  (MZDAY) - Get Free Report began production of its first all-electric vehicle, the MX-30 sports utility vehicle in May 2020 in Hiroshima, Japan, and began selling it in the US in 2021, but only in a limited capacity in California. The company sold 66 MX-30 EVs in the first half of 2023, 324 in 2022 and 116 in 2021, CarFigures reported. The vehicle only has a range of about 100 miles.

The Japanese automaker, however, has decided to discontinue the Mazda MX-30 EV for the US market following the 2023 model year, but will still sell the vehicle in Japan and Europe.

Mazda will focus its electrification efforts in the US on plug-in hybrid EVs, such as the 2024 CX-90 PHEV, the upcoming CX-70 PHEV and a new CX-50 Hybrid, Mazda North American Operations said in a July 28 statement.