The Toyota Camry was the best-selling vehicle in California in 2021.
There's a reason why the Tesla Model 3 is fondly called the "California Camry" in the state of California.
Data from the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA) reveals that the Model 3, Tesla's second best-selling car, may outpace the Toyota Camry in sales last year.
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| Tesla VS Toyota |
The Toyota Camry was the best-selling vehicle in California in 2021.
The same trend can be seen in the light truck category.
The Tesla Model Y once again became the top pickup truck in California in terms of new vehicle registrations last year.
This allowed the Model Y to beat the Toyota RAV4 for the second year in a row.
CNCDA data showed that the Tesla Model 3 saw a record 78,934 copies sold in California in 2022, beating out the Toyota Camry with its record of 55,967.
The Tesla Model Y saw 87,257 registrations last year, while the Toyota RAV4 saw 59,794 registrations.
Tesla's performance against Toyota is impressive.
The Japanese automaker remains a very strong force in California, accounting for 17% of vehicle registrations in the state last year with 289,304 units.
Tesla accounted for 11% of California's auto business last year with 186,711 vehicles registered.
A look at the sales trend in California will show Toyota is declining as Tesla's market share increases.
As mentioned in the Automotive News report, the market share of Toyota and its luxury brand Lexus declined from 2021 to 2022.
While Tesla followed the opposite trend, the company nearly doubled its market share in the same period.
This same trend was highlighted in a recent study from S&P Global Mobility, which noted that Toyota and Honda are losing buyers to companies like Tesla.
Data from Experian suggests there's a very good reason for that: Toyota and Honda don't have a strong electric lineup.