By Kara Carlson and Dana Hull | Bloomberg
Tesla Inc. is no longer selling the majority of new electric cars registered in California, the state that accounts for almost a third of all zero-emission vehicle purchases in the US.
The company’s share of EV sales in the state fell to 43.9% in the first quarter, from 55.5% a year ago, the California New Car Dealers Association said Wednesday. Whereas Tesla registrations dropped 15%, sales of all other EVs increased 35% early this year.
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“An aging product lineup and backlash against Elon Musk’s political initiatives are likely key factors for the decline in Tesla BEV market share,” the dealers’ association said in its quarterly report.
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Tesla’s sales slumped in the quarter even as US consumers rushed to buy new cars before US President Donald Trump’s auto tariffs took effect this month. While all of the models Tesla sells in the country are built in California or Texas, the company does rely on imported parts that could be hit with higher levies starting in early May.
In addition to blowback over its chief executive officer’s politicking in Washington, Tesla was dealing with manufacturing disruptions during the first quarter related to its most important product, the Model Y. The company scheduled downtime at all of its car-assembly plants globally to change over production lines for a redesign of its top-selling offering.
Tesla sold 42,322 vehicles in California during the first three months of the year, the bulk of which were Model Y SUVs and Model 3 sedans. The two vehicles remained the top-selling EVs in the state, followed by the Honda Prologue and Hyundai Ioniq 5 SUVs.
The Cybertruck ranked No. 8 among all EVs with 2,282 registered during the quarter, beating Ford’s F-150 Lightning, which rounded out the top 10.
The report adds state-specific granularity to what was a bleak quarter for Tesla — global deliveries fell to the lowest since mid-2022.
California is by far the largest EV market in the US, accounting for 31.1% of registrations last year, according to the dealers’ association. Tesla was based in Silicon Valley until Musk moved the company’s corporate headquarters to Austin in late 2021.
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