Tesla is an American company specialised in the manufacture of electric cars and solar panels.

Founded in July 2003, by engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, Tesla is named after the well-known physicist Nikolai. In the early days, Elon Musk, J B Straubel and Ian Wright all joined and have been retrospectively permitted to refer to themselves as co-founders. Musk views the company as a technology name and independent car maker, aiming to offer affordable electric cars to average consumers, making electric accessible. The company name Tesla Motors was shortened to Tesla in early 2017.

In 2018, after 10 years of selling cars, Tesla became the world’s best-selling plug-in passenger car maker, both as a brand and auto group, having delivered almost a quarter of a million units and with a 12% market share of plug-in sales. Tesla vehicle sales continue to grow strongly, especially in their home US market, but also in Europe.

The Tesla strategy is aimed at changing the auto industry, by developing multiple innovative pieces which an fit together, something known as “complex coordination”. In an effort to differentiate itself from traditional car manufacturers, Tesla’s strategies for technology, sales, marketing and production all are designed to be unique. Unlike other car makers using electric, Tesla also doesn’t use big batteries, but instead uses thousands of small cells rather like those in consumer electronics, to save on price and, more importantly, weight.

Tesla production involves around 80% vertical integration, including the production of components and infrastructure for proprietary charging, meaning it has to master multiple technologies. These range from batteries to motors to sensors as well as the more mundane elements. This is rare in the auto industry, where a similar percentage tends to be outsourced to suppliers, leaving the car maker company to focus in-house on only engine construction and then final assembly. Tesla uses large factories in order to generate and benefit from economies of scale. Furthermore, Tesla sells its cars online and out of its own showrooms, avoiding traditional dealer networks.

Tesla is quoted on the Nasdaq exchange in New York, part of the Nasdaq 100 index as well as being a component of the Russel 1000 index.