Yahoo Autos Tesla Model 3 Outselling Mercedes C-class, BMW 3-series in California
The BMW 3-series was, for many years, not only the top-selling sports sedan in the United States but the top-selling luxury-brand car. Recently, it has been supplanted by the Mercedes-Benz C-class. But in electric-car-eager California, both are now being outsold by the Tesla Model 3.
According to the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA), citing IHS Markit registration data in its first-quarter newsletter, the Model 3 tops the quarterly sales rankings in the Near Luxury Class, with 3723 new-vehicle registrations in the Golden State from the start of the year through the end of March, versus 3323 for the C-class and 3260 for the 3-series. The Lexus ES (2044 registrations) and the Infiniti Q50 (1944) round out the top five sellers in that group.
Tesla has claimed a 1.5 percent market share overall for passenger cars and light trucks in the state. The electric-car company operates without a traditional franchise-dealership model.
The Model 3 was originally supposed to be Tesla’s affordable $35,000 mass-market model (under $30k when considering the federal EV tax credit), but so far, only higher-priced versions have been offered. CEO Elon Musk announced recently that Tesla will soon start taking orders on an even pricier, $78,000 performance version of the Model 3. When pressed about the base $35,000 version that Tesla had talked about all along, Musk said that shipping a base Model 3 right now “would cause Tesla to lose money and die.” He added that the company would “need three to six months after [achieving a production rate of] 5K a week to ship $35K Tesla and live.”
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California remains a hotbed for electric-vehicle demand and adoption. Nearly one out of every 10 new vehicles sold in California is electrified. Within the state, the market share for both plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles are both separately nearing 3 percent of the market, while hybrids have fallen a bit out of favor and stand at about 4 percent.
Both BMW and Mercedes-Benz are developing fully electric sedans, but they’re still several years off. In the meantime, plug-in hybrid versions of both the 3-series and the C-class currently exist, as well as the offbeat BMW i3 city car, which is available as an EV and a PHEV. Once those legacy-brand competitors arrive, it will be interesting to see whether Tesla can hold its lead-and California is likely to be on the vanguard in answering that question.
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