By market cap; actual sales, they're not even close to that.
There's lessons to learn, sure, but when it comes to manufacturing and price/performance the positive lessons are from China, not the US.
Rank them by vehicle count? Not even in the top 15: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_automotive_manufacture...
Rank by revenue? Tesla's 11th: https://companiesmarketcap.com/automakers/largest-automakers...
IMO, which of revenue and vehicle count is most important depends on if you're a customer or an investor. If you're looking at market cap, you're clearly an investor.
The lesson we (not just here in Europe, everywhere) should from Tesla is a negative one, given the P/E ratio and the long history of unmet promises, e.g.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_predictions_for_autono...
I wouldn't be surprised if educational materials 20-30 years from now name certain financial arrangements a "Musk scheme".
> In October 2018, its new CEO Herbert Diess predicted that by 2020 the company would produce electric vehicles that ‘can do everything like Tesla and are half the price’. The vehicle to meet this ambition was the ID.3, so named as it would mark a symbolic ‘third era’ for the brand, after the Beetle and the Golf. Volkswagen threw $50 billion at its electric car line-up, making them some of the most costly cars in history, Unfortunately, it failed again.
Despite the flaws, the car did actually launch in 2020 with an after-subsidy cost of under 30k: https://www.electrive.com/2020/06/17/vw-id-3-1st-edition-to-...
I think is valid to talk of after-subsidy prices given how much Tesla in that era was quoting after-subsidy prices, though you may disagree: https://web.archive.org/web/20221205200727/https://www.forbe...
If this is unacceptable, the pre-subsidy, just-over-30k price was available 21 January 2021, which is much closer to target than, say, Cybertruck: https://www.electrive.net/2021/01/21/vw-id-3-verkauf-mit-kle...
For comparison, Cybertruck was announced in November 2019 for late 2021/2022 depending on model; actually began deliveries 1, 2, and 4 years later than announced depending on model; and was about 40-60% more expensive depending on model; and is infamously poor quality. Some news from the time of release, with juicy quotes that didn't age well given all the issues the vehicle had:
"Launching Cybertruck is important for the broader Tesla growth story over the coming years and also will prove to the doubters that Musk can successfully expand the Tesla halo effect as more consumers head down the [electric vehicle] path over the coming years," Dan Ives, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, said in a report.
nielsole•1h ago