Should Tesla be valued like a traditional automaker or a tech company?

That question has been at the center of a years-long debate between investors and skeptics of the electric vehicle maker, as bullish investors focus on its EV innovation, self-driving tech, and forays into solar and energy storage as reasons why Tesla deserves a premium valuation to traditional automakers.

What’s for sure is: if Tesla ever is valued like Ford or General Motors, it has a lot more room to decline, according to Greenwich Wealth Management chief investment officer Vahan Janjigian.

He told CNBC on Wednesday that even after plunging more than 60% in 2022, Tesla is still valued at about eight times more than Ford and General Motors — despite selling millions of fewer cars each year.

"Tesla I think is still tremendously overvalued despite its plunge this year... I think Tesla should be selling at a higher multiple than [Ford and General Motors] because it has much better growth prospects and they dominate the EV market. But this multiple is way too high," Janjigian said.

"Tesla is currently selling about 1 million cars per year. That number is going to grow. When I look at Ford, which is selling approximately 5 to 6 million cars per year. I think Tesla will get up there, so therefore under that argument I think it should be worth at least as much as Ford, maybe twice as much as Ford, maybe 3x as much as Ford. But 8x as much as Ford? I think that's too high," Janjigian said.

If Tesla plunged to a valuation that was three times as much as Ford, it would be worth $135 billion. That would represent a 65% slump from current levels, and an 89% fall from its peak valuation of more than $1.2 trillion.

"Are they going to be the only car seller in the world? Are they going to put all these other automobile manufacturers out of business? If that's the case then [they should be valued higher]. But Ford is also making EVs. GM is making EVs. Every single manufacturer now is trying to grow their EV business, and they have a lot of years of experience behind them... so I think that they will eventually catch up [to Tesla]," Janjigian said.