Tesla stocks have been going through the roof in the last year, ever since they began actual production of the Model S, and subsequent delivery to thousands of somewhat skeptical buyers. However, so far it’s been plain sailing for the fledgling manufacturer and their one model range, so much so that the market value for the company has now reached $20/€15 billion in record time, when its stock prices peaked at $173 earlier today.

I’ve never heard of a company of any sort, let alone of the automotive kind, going up this quickly in recent memory (but keep in mind, I’m not a stock specialist). Tesla’s stocks “surged almost fivefold this year,” according to Bloomberg News.

Now, by the end of the year company CEO Elon Musk plans to have shifted 21,000 examples of the Model S, a figure which he plans to double next year and then further build upon that with subsequent (hopefully cheaper) models.

However, the ascent may be even more spectacular than what we’ve seen thus far, with European sales already underway and showing promise in a number of countries, and the initial setup of a potentially very lucrative entry into the Chinese market.

I mean it’s something to be a minuscule automaker that makes one niche model, yet be valued as the world’s 13th overall. That puts Tesla just behind Kia, but ahead of Suzuki (at peak stock prices).

By Andrei Nedelea

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