I N ITS QUEST to “accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy” Tesla is different to other carmakers. Their mission is less to change the planet and more to make and sell as many cars as possible. Despite its technological lead in electric cars, Tesla has struggled with the mundane task of mass-producing vehicles. Of late, however, the firm has started to hit production targets. It is even turning a profit. That such milestones seem modest by car-industry standards has not stopped investors from swooning. Tesla’s market capitalisation surpassed $100bn in January and is now only exceeded by one other carmaker, Toyota, a Japanese giant. It is worth more than Germany’s Volkswagen, which made more than 10m cars last year, 30 times as many as Tesla. It has lapped premium rivals like BMW (with a market value of $47.5bn) and Daimler ($51.2bn).

The latest indication that Tesla is at last making an impression as a manufacturer came with its fourth-quarter results, unveiled on January 29th. After years of losses the firm made an operating profit—of $359m—for the second quarter in succession (though it still lost money for the year). Its boss, Elon Musk, was uncharacteristically restrained but noted revenues in 2019 of nearly $20bn without spending cash on advertising. Earlier in the month Tesla also revealed delivery numbers that pleased analysts and seemed to show that the firm has put behind it what Mr Musk had called “production hell” around the Model 3, its first mass-market car.

Profits and production are not the only reasons Tesla is joining the automotive mainstream. New products and plants are also on track. Its Cybertruck, an angular pick-up straight out of a 1980s sci-fi flick, which Mr Musk unveiled in November, is set to hit roads in 2021. This year Tesla will launch the Model Y, a smaller SUV , and the Roadster, a pricey sports car. It has just started making Model 3s at a new “Gigafactory” in China, showing that it could react far more swiftly than leaden-wheeled competitors; it got the plant in Shanghai up and running in 11 months. It is set to break ground on another in Germany.