Tesla has become the highest valued US automaker of all time, closing at $81.39 billion on Monday, surpassing General Motors and Fiat Chrysler, according to reports.

Tesla reached a market value of $81.39 billion on Monday before closing, surpassing Ford Motor’s record valuation of $80.81 billion in 1999, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

On Thursday, Tesla shares peaked to $492.14 with a 4.92 per cent climb.

Top-selling model

According to a report in the Daily Mail, per data compiled by the Edison Electric Institute, Model 3 is Tesla’s top-selling model currently. The company’s short-sellers, however, have led to a loss of $8.4 billion in valuation over the past seven months, according to the report.

Tesla’s stocks had previously been in the limelight after founder and CEO Elon Musk sent out a tweet, back in 2018, claiming to have secured enough funding to take the company private, at a price of $420 per share. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stepped in as the stock prices sky-rocketed after the tweet.

Later, the company had picked up pace as its Model 3 sedan proved a success and Tesla’s stock reached $392.50 on December 18, a jump of 4.3 per cent, according to the Daily Mail report.

Zooming sales

The latest surge in the company’s share price came after its announcement of having delivered 50 per cent more vehicles in 2019 than the previous year, according to a report in Markets Insider.

“We believe this new solid quarter of deliveries could further put to rest investor concerns around softening demand for Tesla’s products,” the report quoted Emmanuel Rosner, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, as saying.

“Tesla is just about to start deliveries of locally made Model 3s in the very large China market at an attractive price point,” he added.

The auto giant, however, is yet to catch up in the global race, falling behind Toyota Motor Corp, which was valued at $227.90 billion, and Volkswagen AG, at $98.65 billion, by Monday’s close.

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