Tesla California Registrations Jump 58%, Model 3 Rides Out On Top

Tesla Inc’s TSLA electric vehicle registrations jumped 58.3% to 30,514 vehicles in the third quarter in the home state of California, compared with a year ago, according to automotive research firm Cross-Sell.

What Happened: Cross-Sell said the electric vehicle maker registered a total of 61,040 vehicles in 22 states from where it collected the data. Nearly half of these registrations were for its least-expensive vehicle, the midsize sedan Model 3.

“It looked like a lot of Model 3 sales were cutting into the sales of the Model Y during the quarter,” said Meagan Saxon, Director of Partnerships at Cross-Sell. 

“The customer base for these two models is more or less the same,” the analyst said.

Registrations for Model 3 in California jumped 124.4% to 14,543 units during the third quarter, representing 47.6% of the total registrations, as per Cross-Sell.

See Also: Tesla Model S, Model X Long Range Price Increases Reach China After US Hikes 

Model 3: Model 3, the entry-level mid-size sedan, used to be the Elon Musk-led company’s best-selling electric vehicle in 2020 but sales in the U.S. market declined by more than 50% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2021.

Tesla registered 3,793 Model S electric sedans in 22 states in the third quarter and 24 Model X’s during the period. "It is not a mistake and the low numbers [indicate] that the Model X could be discontinued,” as per Saxon.

Tesla in its earnings call on Wednesday said it was ramping up production of Model X.

Average Price Movement: The Model 3 is cheaper than the Model Y by about $10,000. At $48,344, the average price for Model 3 rose by 3.7% during the third quarter, when compared with a quarter ago. Model Y’s average pricing jumped about 6.3% to $58,545 in the third quarter, when compared with the three months ended June.

See Also: Tesla Raises US Prices Of Some Model 3, Model Y EVs Again 

Why It Matters: Tesla’s U.S. customers have seen multiple price hikes this year including those for its best-selling both Model 3 and Model X electric vehicles. Musk has in the past blamed industry-wide supply chain issues and semiconductor shortages for those price hikes.

Despite severe chip shortages, Tesla navigated through the crisis to deliver record global third-quarter deliveries. The company also reported a beat on both revenue and profit numbers on Wednesday after the bell.

Price Action: Tesla shares closed 0.18% higher at $865.80 a share on Wednesday. Shares were down 1.36% in the extended hours. 

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