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Hey, Dan Akerson, that embarrassing whooshing sound in the left lane is Tesla Motors’ Model S Sedan passing your Chevy Volt in first-quarter sales.
North American sales of Tesla’s $70,000 all-electric family car in the first quarter are expected to blow by those of the much-hyped Volt.
For Akerson, CEO of GM, with a market cap of $41 billion, it must be a humbling experience.
Tesla, worth less than $6 billion, is expected to deliver at least 4,750 of its Model S vehicles in the quarter, a spokeswoman told Bloomberg.
GM, with hundreds of showrooms and a much more massive marketing machine, expects to sell 4,421 gas-and-electric Volts.
Further behind, Nissan’s Leaf will sell 3,695 units in the quarter.
Tesla’s current quick start is even more impressive considering that the Volt is priced about $30,000 less than the Model S. The Leaf costs about $10,000 less than the Volt.
Tesla didn’t begin selling the Model S until late last year and limited that effort to the US and Canada.
“I think Tesla’s sales volume speaks to the strength of its brand,” auto analyst Alec Gutierrez at consumer auto research firm Kelly Blue Book told The Post.
“Tesla got to a point where it could finally produce the volumes of orders that were coming in,” Gutierrez noted.
Elon Musk, Tesla’s founder and CEO, is forecasting a first-time profit for Tesla when it reports results on May 8.
Tesla shares hit a 52-week high Friday at $53.74, before easing to close at $51.20. They are up 51 percent so far this year.