Tesla, the world's largest manufacturer of electric vehicles (EV), is facing increasing tough competition in its home market. For the first time, Tesla's market share in the US has fallen below 50 percent. According to Cox Automotive, a leading service and data company in the automotive industry, Tesla's share of the battery electric vehicle market dropped to 49.7 percent in the second quarter, compared to 59 percent the previous year.

Stephanie Valdez Streaty, Insights Director at Cox, explained that Tesla is facing increased competitive pressure, resulting in "persistent price pressure." This development comes at a time when Tesla is forced to update its model range, while new competitors are emerging in dealerships and the growth in demand for electric vehicles is slowing.

Total electric vehicle deliveries in the US increased by 11.3 percent year-over-year to a record 330,463 units in the second quarter. However, this was significantly lower than the 48.4 percent recorded in the same period of the previous year.

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"Tesla's Model Y and Model 3 face new competition from the BMW i5, Cadillac Lyriq, Honda Prologue, and Kia EV9 SUV, as noted by Cox. Ford maintained its second position behind Tesla in the U.S. EV market, supported by 'higher volumes' of its Mustang Mach-E SUV and F-150 Lightning trucks.

The US auto market remains relatively shielded from cheaper Chinese competitors compared to Europe and other regions. President Biden's administration announced in May that it would quadruple tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to 100 percent.

Christopher Tsai of Tsai Capital, a Tesla investor, said the news was "not surprising" and he expected Tesla's market share to continue to decline as new competitors entered the market. "However, we also expect Tesla to increase production and delivery from currently about 1.8 million vehicles to around 15 million vehicles by 2030," he said. "Because the market for and acceptance of electric vehicles will increase significantly.

Tesla announced that it had delivered 443,956 vehicles worldwide in the three-month period ending in June. Although the delivery numbers were 4.7 percent below the previous year's figures, they exceeded Wall Street's expectations. Tesla vehicles were also included for the first time on a list of electric vehicles by the Chinese local government that can be purchased by public, party, and government groups.

However, Tesla shares fell more than 6 percent on Thursday in New York after reports emerged of a delay in the introduction of self-driving robotaxis. Bloomberg News reported that the presentation of the new taxis, which was scheduled for August, has now been postponed to October.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.