During the first nine months of 2021, the overall light-vehicle registrations in California amounted to 1,484,862 units, which is 23.8% more than in the challenging year of 2020.
According to the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA)'s report, plug-in vehicle registrations during the period increased roughly 82% year-over-year to 172,244, which is 11.6% of the total market. That's a new record.
The all-electric registrations increased by over 68% to 123,244 (8.3% share), but not as much as plug-in hybrids - up 127% to 49,000 and 3.3% share. Conventional hybrids have also expanded quickly, by about 90% year-over-year.
Plug-in electric car sales in California - Q1-Q3 2021
- BEVs: 123,244 (market share of 8.3%)
- PHEVs: 49,000 (market share of 3.3%)
- Total plug-ins: 172,244 (market share of 11.6%)
- HEVs: 152,941 (market share of 10.3%)
- Total xEVs: 325,185 (market share of 21.9%)
Top models
Five all-electric cars were at the forefront of their subcategories, and three of them were #1:
- Tesla Model Y (42,624, up 365%): #1 in Luxury Compact SUV (40.9% share)
- Tesla Model 3 (34,995, up 11%): #1 in Near Luxury (43.8% share)
- Chevrolet Bolt EV (9,945, up 93%): #1 in Subcompact (35.2% share)
- Tesla Model S (2,231, down 36%): #4 in Luxury and High End Sports Cars (6.2% share)
- BMW i3 (888): #5 in Entry Luxury (9.1% share)
* only models that can be identified as plug-ins by their name
Tesla Model Y - one of the best selling cars
This year, the Tesla Model Y is especially strong in California, taking the fifth spot year-to-date overall, including top passenger cars and SUV/pickups. See the list of models above 30,000 YTD:
- Toyota Camry - 51,111
- Honda Civic - 50,159
- Toyota RAV4 - 48,182
- Toyota Corolla - 43,832
- Tesla Model Y - 42,624
- Chevrolet Silverado - 36,494
- Honda Accord - 36,028
- Ford F-Series - 35,252
- Toyota Tacoma - 35,122
- Tesla Model 3 - 34,995
- Honda CR-V - 32,841
- Ram Pickup - 32,619
Tesla brand sales
According to the data, in Q3, Tesla registrations amounted to 32,165 (up 89% year-over-year), which is 7.2% of the market (compared to 17,017 and 4.1% a year ago).
In Q1-Q3, Tesla registrations stand at 82,040 (up 63.8% year-over-year), which is 5.5% of the market (compared to 50,100 and 4.2% share a year earlier).
Numbers for Tesla Model Y, Model 3 and Model S are shown in the table, which combined with the total, allows us to calculate the Model X result. Unfortunately, we doubt that everything is correct, as Model S volume is similar to Model X, while deliveries of the refreshed version have barely started in October.
- Tesla Model Y - 42,624
- Tesla Model 3 - 34,995
- Tesla Model S - 2,231
- Tesla Model X - 2,190
Anyway, regardless of the exact numbers, Tesla has a dominant position in the BEV segment with over 66% share in BEV segment. It was recently noted by CNBC:
CNCDA shows also that Tesla has a 2.0% share in the U.S. Compared to 11,772,441 YTD, it would have to be some 235,000.
See also
