General car sales in California continue to decrease (by 5.3% year-over-year in Q1 2019 to 463,835), but the electrification moves forward.
According to the California New Car Dealers Association's report for the past quarter, based on IHS data, plug-in car sales in Q1 2019 amounted to 35,668 at a solid 7.7% market share:
- BEVs: 26,053 (market share increased to 5.6%)
- PHEVs: 9,615 (market share decreased to 2.1%)
- Total: 35,668 (at 7.7% market share)
For comparison, HEV sales stand at 19,937 (at a stable 4.3% market share), which shows that the major electrification trend relies mostly on all-electric cars.
Plug-in electric car sales in California - March 2019

As we can see on the brands rank, Tesla noted huge 20,491 sales (up 172.1% year-over-year) at 4.4% market share, which is 78.7% of all BEVs, 57.4% of all plug-ins and more than all hybrid models combined!
Several BEVs were also top in its class:
- Chevrolet Bolt EV (2,285): #2 in Subcompact
- BMW i3 (459): #4 in Entry Luxury
- Tesla Model 3 (15,805): #1 in Near Luxury
- Tesla Model S (2,137): #1 in Luxury and High End Sports Cars
- Tesla Model X (2,549): #2 in Luxury Mid Size SUV
The most important stat is probably the third place among all models for the Model 3:
- Honda Civic - 18,728
- Toyota Camry - 15,891
- Tesla Model 3 - 15,805
- Honda Accord - 14,300
- Toyota Corolla - 14,075
Source: California New Car Dealers Association - Auto Outlook: 2019 Quarter 1
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