Is Tesla Motors be the world’s most important car company?
Morgan Stanley Research analyst Adam Jonas makes that argument in a new report to investors, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times by Jerry Hirsch.
“Not even two years after the delivery of the first Model S, Tesla Motors has transformed from fledgling start-up to arguably the most important car company in the world. We are not joking,” Jonas wrote. “Tesla is also emerging as an emblematic force in America's effort to foster high tech manufacturing job growth.”
Rival automakers derided now-failed start-ups such as Fisker and Coda, but they see Tesla as a true competitor.
General Motors has a “Team Tesla” devoted to the development of long-range electric vehicles like Tesla’s Model S sedan, Jonas said.
“A BMW engineer recently explained to us how Tesla's presence has helped reinvigorate the spirit of automobile innovation that was beginning to run stale, further testifying that BMW will be a stronger company longer term because Tesla is around,” he said.
Tesla also establishing itself as the “most American made car on the road, pushing 90% U.S. content,” according to Jonas. That’s more than such American pie vehicles as the Ford F-150 and Chevy Silverado pickup trucks, he said.
This all means that investors should look at Tesla as more than a traditional auto company. Jonas has a price target of $320 for the automaker’s stock. That valuation implies that Tesla will have slightly less than 1% of the global auto market by 2028. It has traded between $225 and $230 for most of the past week.
