Tesla (TSLA) gross sales are down 21% in California, the most important EV market within the US, and this decline is dragging the whole EV market down.
California accounts for roughly a 3rd of EV gross sales within the US, making it probably the most vital electrical car market in America.
Tesla has dominated the EV market in California, however its market share has been in clear decline since 2024.
Right now, the California New Automotive Sellers Affiliation (CNCDA) launched its Q2 2025 report and confirmed that Tesla’s gross sales fell 21% through the quarter.
Tesla delivered 41,138 electrical automobiles in California in Q2 2025 – down from 52,000 items throughout the identical interval final 12 months.
It has now been 7 quarters in a row of year-over-year decline and 4 quarters in a row of quarter-to-quarter decline:
CNCDA mentioned that Tesla’s efficiency is pulling the whole EV market down in California:
Seven seems unfortunate for Tesla, as that is the latest variety of quarterly registration declines reported within the state. The electrical-only automaker skilled an 18.3 p.c drop in registrations in comparison with the primary half of 2024. The direct-to-consumer automaker lacks a sturdy dealership community for gross sales assist, which can have contributed to a 2.7 level decline in its market share year-to-date, with Q2 alone seeing a 2.9 level lower. This decline pulled down the general Zero Emission Automobile (ZEV) share within the state, which fell to 18.2 p.c this quarter and 19.5 p.c year-to-date, down from 22.0 p.c in 2024.
Wherever Tesla is underperforming, CEO Elon Musk likes to say that it’s the entire market that’s underperforming, however he can’t declare that in California, as most different manufacturers are seeing vital progress in California year-to-date:
This consists of luxurious manufacturers comparable to BMW, Mercedes, Cadillac, Genesis, and Acura, which instantly compete with Tesla.
Tesla’s troubles in California could be solely beginning because the automaker is at present in court docket in California preventing the state’s DMV, which is suing the corporate for false promoting of its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving options.
The state is even suing to droop Tesla’s vendor license in California, which might power the automaker to cease promoting automobiles within the largest EV market within the US.
Electrek’s Take
For Tesla’s gross sales report in Q2 to make sense, Tesla wanted to extend quarter-to-quarter deliveries within the US.
We nonetheless don’t have the info on that but, however we do for its largest market within the US: California.
In California, Tesla delivered roughly 1,000 fewer automobiles in Q2 in comparison with Q1, regardless of the provision of the brand new Mannequin Y.
Each onerous knowledge that we get about Tesla’s gross sales and demand is horrible these days and the CEO’s reply to this clear development is that “it doesn’t matter as a result of autonomy is across the nook.”
Contemplating he has been incorrect about Tesla fixing autonomy for the final decade, and Tesla has launched a “Robotaxi” service with a security supervisor within the automotive, à la Waymo circa 2020, it’s onerous to take him severely.
