The Tesla Model Y and Tesla Model 3 were the two most popular models in the state last year.
February 10, 2023 at 8:44 ET
New vehicle sales in California increased in the fourth quarter, although the full year 2022 was slower than 2021 due to several factors (mainly supply chain issues).
According to data and estimates from the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA), about 422,083 new light vehicles were registered in the fourth quarter in California (up 13.6% year-over-year), while year-to-date the figure is 1.67 million. (down 10.2%). The good news is that the outlook for 2023 is cautiously positive.
Most importantly for us, the plug-in electric car segment continues to expand, taking record market share.
In the fourth quarter, some 102,279 plug-in electric cars were registered (up 56 percent from a year ago), which is not only a new quarterly record but also the first six-digit result.
In addition, market share improved to a new record level of 24.2 percent. That’s almost one in four new light vehicles. If we add non-rechargeable hybrids, the share of electrified vehicles would be almost 35 percent.
Fully electric vehicles simply surprised us with a new record of 88,371 units (up 66% year-on-year) and almost 21% share.
Interestingly, even plug-in hybrids saw a slight increase (13 percent year-on-year), after three negative quarters.
- BEV: 88,371 (66% more, 20.9% market share)
- PHEV: 13,908 (+13%, 3.3% market share)
- Total add-ons: 102,279 (56% more, 24.2% market share)
- HEV: 43,937 (+0.2%, 10.4% market share)
- Total xEVs: 146,216 (34% more, 34.6% market share)
By 2022, more than 518,000 new plug-in electric cars were registered in California, while the number of all-electric cars exceeded 285,000. For reference, in the 12 months of 2021, the total number of plug-in electric car registrations exceeded 237,000.
Fully electric cars were the main force behind electrification, with a very strong growth of 62% and a market share of 17.1%.
- BEV: 285,199 (62% more, 17.1% market share)
- PHEV: 50,035 (down 18%, 3.0% market share)
- Total add-ons: 335,234 (41% more, 20.1% market share)
- HEV: 183,461 (down 7%, 11.0% market share)
- Total xEVs: 518,695 (up 19%, a 31.1% market share)
The trend is very good and we expect even better results in 2023. Who knows, maybe even one in three new cars will be rechargeable, compared to 20.1 percent in 2022.
The data reveals six autonomous all-electric models among the best models in 2022, including three in the top positions of their subcategories.
Three all-electric cars were at the top of their subcategories:
* red underlined only for models that can be identified as plug-ins by name
The Tesla Model Y and Tesla Model 3 were the two most popular new cars in California (unchanged here compared to previous quarters), extending their lead over other models.
The five main models:
- Tesla Model Y – 87,257
- Tesla Model 3 – 78,934
- Toyota RAV4 – 59,794
- Toyota Camry – 55,967
- Ford F-Series – 40,232
Remember that a year ago, the Tesla Model Y was number 2 (60,394), slightly behind the Toyota Camry (61,599).
After four quarters, Tesla was the second most popular brand in California, with an 11.2 percent share (behind Toyota with a 17.3 percent share, but ahead of Ford with an 8, 4 percent fee).
Tesla also remains the dominant player in the BEV segment with a 65 percent share. All non-Tesla BEV registrations combined were 98,488.
Results for Q1-Q4 2022 in California:
- Tesla Model Y – 87,257
- Tesla Model 3 – 78,934
- Tesla Model X – 11,273
- Tesla Model S – 9,234
- Tesla Total: * 186,711 (+54.2% up, 11.2% share)
total non-Tesla BEVs: 98,488
* we observed a small difference between the total and the sum of the four individual models in the data provided by CNCDA.
CNCDA also shows that Tesla has a 3.5% share of the US market. Compared to 13,865,892 units YTD, it should be around 485,000.
Having the US and California numbers allows us to estimate the difference, which is the number of Teslas registered in states outside of California. They are almost 300,000.
