Tesla (TSLA -1.26%) is undergoing one of the biggest evolutions in automotive industry history, and you could almost consider it outside of the auto industry looking in at this point. Its vehicles are still selling well, but they're aging and requiring more margin-eroding incentives, while its capital expenditures are set to explode as it transitions its business to include humanoid robots, artificial intelligence (AI), and its eventual robotaxi business. That said, Tesla still has a massive advantage with technology, AI, and software, highlighted in Gartner's Digital Automaker Index 2026. Here's what investors should know.
Top ranks remain
There are certainly noticeable trends within the index ranking, and Tesla's dominance still shines. The top six in the rankings remain unchanged from the prior year, and Tesla again took the No. 1 spot, improving its score from 79.3% last year to 82.7%. The next two competitors, Nio (NIO -1.80%) and Xiaomi, checked in with strong scores of 73.1% and 69.2%, respectively. Then scores drop significantly to round out the top six, represented by XPeng, Li Auto, and Rivian landing in a range of 55.5% to 57.7%.
Image source: Tesla.
The trend here is that U.S. young electric vehicle (EV) makers and Chinese automakers are dominating, improving nearly across the board, and legacy automakers such as General Motors (GM +0.61%), Ford Motor Company (F -0.36%), Stellantis (STLA -2.09%), and Volkswagen all fell further behind in the rankings despite large investments in software and AI. "It shows how many automakers aren't yet prepared enough to deal with AI," Gartner Vice President of Research Pedro Pacheco told Automotive News Europe.
It isn't just a Detroit auto problem, with European and Japanese automakers also struggling to close the gap with the top-ranking EV makers that have clearly been more prepared to adopt and innovate in software-defined vehicles and AI. Mercedes-Benz was the highest-scoring European automaker, ranking 11th, while Nissan and Mazda checked in at the lowest two ranks.
NASDAQ: TSLA
Key Data Points
What does this mean?
Gartner suggests that much of the issue is the pace of internal transformation that isn't prepared to adapt to rapid tech adoption, which puts them further behind in the race to also attract talent to improve or innovate their vehicle architecture, connected vehicles, driverless technology, and AI (four of the 10 categories producing automaker scores).
For Tesla investors, this does lend some credibility to its transition into more technology-based businesses. According to Automotive News Europe, Gartner Vice President of Research Pedro Pacheco said:
When you buy technology from a vendor then any of your competitors can do the same. But if you develop the technology in-house, you have a chance to be better than the competition and differentiate yourself.
Whether or not Tesla is a stock to consider starting a position in really comes down to what you're investing for. Tesla helped change the game with EVs, but some analysts estimate that its future robotaxi business already accounts for almost half of the company's valuation. Tesla won't be the same car company investors bought into a decade ago, and its new business plans carry greater uncertainty and risk than its legacy automotive business. Tesla has problems to solve and challenging, expensive operational transformations to work through, but despite its flaws, this index suggests the company has the capability as the lines between software and traditional vehicles blur.
