Tesla became the world’s most valuable publicly traded automaker after its 2020 share-price surge.
Tesla’s market capitalization rose dramatically in 2020 as investors reacted to accelerating electric-vehicle deliveries, improving financial results, production expansion, and expectations for long-term growth. The company briefly surpassed Toyota in market value in July 2020 and later widened its lead.
Market capitalization measures investor expectations as well as current sales, so it does not directly rank companies by vehicle production. Tesla manufactures electric vehicles, battery-storage systems, and related energy products. Toyota and Volkswagen remained much larger by annual vehicle volume during periods when Tesla led by market value.