In June, the Tesla Model S outsold several well-established vehicle brands in California — including Porsche, Buick and Lincoln — according to a recent report from the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA), using data sourced from Polk.
The electric car company also outsold Cadillac and both Jaguar and Land Rover combined. Even Infiniti — a long-established, full-luxury brand — posted only 51 more registrations.
The report shows that this is not just a monthly sales blip — in 2013, Tesla has sold more cars in California than Land Rover, Jaguar, Lincoln, Volvo or Porsche. Tesla's 4,714 registrations in California year-to-date (through June) altogether give it a 0.6 percent market share in the state.
Tesla also contended well with the full-line brands, exceeding the June registrations of Chrysler, Fiat and Mitsubishi.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he plans for Tesla to be a mainstream brand, though the Model S is often seen as a luxury model.
CNCDA has forecasted that about 1.75 million new vehicles will be sold this year in California, which would translate to more than 10,000 Tesla Model S sales in that state alone, if the current trend continues. Nearly half of Teslas sold to-date have been in California.
The Tesla Model S recently received a five-star safety rating in every subcategory from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), making it part of the one percent of all vehicles tested by the federal government to achieve a perfect score.
While NHTSA does not publish a star rating above 5, safety levels better than five stars are captured in the overall Vehicle Safety Score (VSS) provided to manufacturers, where the Model S achieved a new combined record of 5.4 stars.
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Founder & Principal Consultant, Hower Impact
Mike Hower is the founder of Hower Impact — a boutique consultancy delivering best-in-class strategic communication advisory and support for corporate sustainability, ESG and climate tech.
Published Aug 29, 2013 2am EDT / 11pm PDT / 7am BST / 8am CEST