Tesla closing the gap on Toyota as most-valuable car company, Musk marks milestone with a meme

Tesla’s share price shot up above $US1000 for the first time last week, putting its market valuation at more than $US190 billion to be the second-most valuable car company in the world behind Toyota ($US210.5 billion).

Cementing its place above the likes of Ford, Volkswagen, General Motors and Nissan, Tesla’s share price has since dropped down to $US972.84 at the time of writing.

Why the surge?

Well as is almost normal for Tesla now, the share price jumped due a tweet from the brand’s founder Elon Musk confirming a leaked email that the Semi truck is gearing up for “volume production”.

No timeframe has been given for the increased production of the truck.

In reaction to the news, one of Mr Musk’s followers tweeted “tell us what happened”, to which he replied “Stonks”, a word in a meme that mocks the unpredictability of the share market.

Tesla is also gearing up for to rollout new battery technology that will supposed improve driving range and lower costs for its future vehicles.

At present, its portfolio includes the Model S sedan, Model X SUV, Model 3 mid-sizer and upcoming Model Y crossover. Plans are also place to bring to market production versions of a new Roadster sports car and Cybertruck pick-up – the latter of which will spawn a smaller Ford Ranger-rivalling ute.