American EV giant Tesla persists in leading California‘s electric vehicle market, resulting in a record-breaking market share of 17%, as per California New Car Dealers Association’s Q4 2022 Auto Outlook.
California’s overall car registrations declined 7.9% last year due to the global supply chain issues that continued over the year, as per the CNCDA. Nonetheless, the report emphasized that the state’s BEV industry grew by more than 50% year-on-year, representing 17.1% of the market.
“A positive in California’s 2022 new vehicle market: sales of electric vehicles, with an estimated increase in market share of 17.1 percent. While vehicle pricing was a major concern in 2022, sales of pure EVs increased by over 50 percent from 2021. California is clearly doing its part to increase EV sales.”
California New Car Dealers Association
Tesla drives California’s EV market share
The Musk-led automaker significantly contributed to the EV growth in California in 2022.
For context, the Tesla Model Y was the most popular EV in the state, with more than 87,000 recorded customer deliveries last year. Meanwhile, Tesla Model 3 trailed behind its sibling with 79,000 registrations.
That said, Tesla (11.2% market share) has a strong potential to beat the most popular brand in the overall auto market, Toyota (17.3% market share). Despite the Japanese automaker’s wide lineup range, the US EV maker advanced its two models to the top spots.
In order to organize the data, the CNCDA classifies SUVs, pickups, and other vehicles into light trucks and passenger vehicles.
The top five “light trucks” in California by sales in 2022 are as follows:
| Model | Registrations | Market Share |
| Tesla Model Y | 87,257 | 7.6% |
| Toyota RAV4 | 59,794 | 5.2% |
| Ford F-Series | 40,232 | 3.5% |
| Chevy Silverado | 38,601 | 3.4% |
| Toyota Tacoma | 38,306 | 3.4% |
Meanwhile, the top five “passenger cars” in California by sales in 2022 are as follows:
| Model | Registrations | Market Share |
| Tesla Model 3 | 78,934 | 15% |
| Toyota Camry | 55,967 | 10.7% |
| Toyota Corolla | 39,865 | 7.6% |
| Honda Accord | 32,605 | 6.2% |
| Honda Civic | 31,867 | 6.1% |
As you can see in the tables above, both the Tesla EVs led the market with a significant gap against other brands.
Another interesting fact is that the only prominent brand with a volumetric rise in registrations in 2022 is Tesla. Refer to the image attached to the Tweet below:
It is not surprising that Tesla remains the leader in California’s EV segment, considering its significant footprint in the state and the entire US. With these recent results, it would not be long before Tesla actually matches and surpass Toyota’s sales in California.
