Elon Musk publicly dumped California for Texas--now Golden State customers are getting revenge, dumping Tesla in droves [View all]

[Tom of Temecula]

In California, where there are Teslas as far as the eye can see and rapid charging stations aplenty, new drivers are opting out of the $605 billion Elon Musk-led car universe.

Among the top three passenger cars sold in California in the first quarter this year, Elon Musk’s Tesla Model 3 dropped from first place to third, behind the Toyota Camry and the Honda Civic, according to the California New Car Dealers Association’s first quarter auto outlook on Monday. Toyota was the top brand in California this quarter, notching a 9.3% increase in registrations, followed by Honda, which marked an 18.6% rise so far this year. Tesla registrations have dropped in California year-to-date, with a 7.8% drop in the first quarter, following a 9.8% drop in the last quarter of 2023.

California makes up 32.5% of registrations of battery electric vehicles in the U.S. and the sluggish popularity of Tesla among new car registrants comes at a particularly vulnerable time for Tesla as a company and for its CEO. Musk is facing significant pressure from investors who want to see him adopt the norms of a more traditional CEO, step back from his grandiose social-media presence, and to provide a more concrete timeline for producing an affordably priced Tesla. The company reported last week that revenues dropped 9%, which was its largest drop since 2012, while net income dropped a whopping 55% in the first quarter. Three of its top executives, including well-known insider Drew Baglino, resigned in the space of two weeks, which further rattled investors.

“Californians’ love affair with electric vehicle giant Tesla may have peaked,” the CNCDA said in a statement Monday. The group tracks trends in California’s new vehicle market, using data from Experian Automotive. The CNCDA represents California-based franchised new car and truck dealers.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/elon-musk-publicly-dumped-california-for-texas-now-golden-state-customers-are-getting-revenge-dumping-tesla-in-droves/ar-AA1nSNOH