Tesla reaches market milestones

Tesla has reached an impressive milestone with a stock valuation that makes it the most valuable U.S. carmaker of all time.

A surge in share price for Tesla Inc. helped it achieve a market value of $81.39 billion, surpassing Ford Motor Company’s peak of $80.81 billion set in 1999.

Tesla shares have soared in January, reaching a recent pinnacle on Jan. 23.

Tesla was already valued at more than the record market cap of General Motors Co., prebankruptcy or in its current form, and that of pre-Daimler Chrysler or Fiat Chrysler, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Tesla’s milestone marks another sign of evolution in the automotive industry. It announced that it had achieved the goal of its chief executive Elon Musk to deliver at least 360,000 electric vehicles in 2019.

“We believe this new solid quarter of deliveries could further put to rest investor concerns around softening demand for Tesla’s product,” Emmanuel Rosner, lead auto and auto technology analyst at Deutsche Bank, wrote in a report.

The company still faces obstacles: It has yet to turn an annual profit and its fortunes rest largely on how it performs overseas, particularly in China.

The company has said it is starting work related to production of its Model Y compact sport-utility vehicle at Gigafactory Shanghai, Tesla’s first overseas plant.