General Motors regained its spot as the biggest US carmaker by market capitalization Thursday, amid greater investor skepticism that chipped away at rival Tesla Motors.

Near 1845 GMT, GM had a market capitalization of $52.6 billion, about $1.9 billion more than the electric car maker, which had overtaken GM in April.

GM shares dipped 0.6 percent to $34.80, while Tesla slumped 6.0 percent to $307.45.

Tesla had a big edge over GM in market value as recently as June 30, but shares reacted poorly to Tesla's latest car delivery figures.

The electric car giant, the brainchild of the charismatic Elon Musk, announced Monday it would produce its first mass-market Model 3 sedans Friday, two weeks ahead of schedule, with the first deliveries set for July 28.

The Model 3, which targets the middle market with a price of just $35,000, is seen as crucial to Tesla's visions to bring electric cars mainstream.

However, analysts instead fixated on the second quarter delivery pace, which came in at 22,000 vehicles, less than the 23,655 expected by analysts.

Goldman Sachs on Wednesday slashed its six-month price target on Tesla shares to $180 per share, warning that demand for the company's established cars was "plateauing," pressuring profit margins.

And Tesla's Model S once again fell short of the top rating in a key crash test by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which mean it failed to achieve the rank of IIHS Top Safety pick, the agency announced Thursday.

Adding to Tesla's woes, the company is facing a more crowded market after Swedish rival Volvo announced Wednesday that it will phase out production of conventional petrol-only cars from 2019, with all new models to be either electric or hybrids.

Source: AFP