California sees 11.9% increase in new vehicle registrations in 2023, Tesla continues EV domination: CNCDA

New car sales in California have reached the highest in 2023 and the state’s new vehicle registrations posted an 11.9% increase compared to a year earlier reveals data from the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA).

In 2023, 1.78 million vehicles were sold in California an increase from the forecasted 1.76 million.

In Q4, the state declined in Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) and accounted for 21.4% of the market. The non-plug-in hybrid vehicles increased by 11.1% in 2023, while the overall new BEV market share increased by 5% compared to 2022.

Gas and diesel vehicles accounted for 63.9% with a 7.7% decline compared to 2022. The combined sales of BEVs, PHEVs, hybrids, and fuel cell vehicles in California reached 35.9% compared to 11.6% in 2018.

BEV registrations in the state increased by 33.8% of all of the sales across the U.S. Meanwhile, the shares of all BEV vehicles in the country jumped by 7.5% last year.

California New Battery Electric Vehicle (EV) Registrations for 2022 and 2023 (source – CNCDA)

Hybrids and EVs:

Tesla Model Y, Model 3, and Chevy Bolt were the top 3 selling BEVs and PHEVs from 2023 and Jeep Wrangler came fourth.

Although Tesla led the market its influence in the EV segment has slightly dipped with the introduction of new options from traditional car companies. In terms of numbers, the EV giant has sustained a loss of 10.5 percent in 2023 in California to Mercedes, BMW, and others.

Northern California accounted for 25% of the overall state’s BEV market share and the Southern part reported 21.3% registrations.

California New Battery Electric Vehicle (EV) Registrations for 2022 and 2023 (source – CNCDA)

Market Share:

Four more car makers have joined the vehicle registrations taking the numbers to 30 from 26 in 2022. Toyota remained California’s top car company with a 15.7% market share, Tesla came second with a 15% share, Honda 9.7%, Ford 7.7%, and Chevrolet held 6.7% of the overall market share.

Tesla had 230,588 EV registrations in 2023 compared to 185,090 registrations in 2022, which is an increase of 24.6%. Among these, 132,636 registrations were accounted for by Tesla Model Y, and Model 3 accounted for 82,586 registrations.

Compared to California, annual registrations in the U.S. for Toyota recorded 12.6%, 11.9% for Ford, and Chevy had 11.2% as the top-selling brands in 2023.

(source – CNCDA)