EV giant Tesla Inc's (NASDAQ:TSLA) popularity in California is spiraling down as per new data from the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA).

What Happened: Tesla registrations in California fell 8% in the first quarter from a year earlier to 50,025 units, marking a second consecutive quarterly drop in the state.

Overall BEV registrations in California, however, rose 2.8% to 90,296 units in the period, marked by an increase in registrations for luxury EV makers including Audi, BMW, Cadillac, and Mercedes. California-based Rivian Automotive's registrations also rose 87% to 3,167 units.

The Model Y, however, continues to retain the spot of the best-selling EV in the state, followed by the Model 3 and the more premium Model X SUV.

The state's BEV market share dipped to 20.9% from 21.5% as of the end of 2023, as customers opted for more combustion engine and hybrid vehicles. Within the BEV market, Tesla's share dipped to 55.4% from 61.8% a year earlier.

"As Tesla's dominance wanes, traditional manufacturers are stepping up to the plate, offering new plug-in hybrid (PHEV), hybrid, and battery electric vehicle (BEV) models," the association noted.

Why It Matters: Tesla's deliveries across the globe dipped 8.5% year-on-year in the first quarter with 386,810 vehicles delivered across the world, marking the first time Tesla has reported a drop in quarterly deliveries in about four years since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

For the overall year, however, company CEO Elon Musk expects higher sales than in 2023 when it sold 1.8 million vehicles.

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