Tesla Hits Speed Bump In California: Registrations Crash As Overall Demand Falters, Q1 Earnings Now In Focus

• The company’s market share in the electric vehicle segment, however, rose to 56%, as overall EV registrations in the state took a dive. 
• While overall vehicle registrations fell 8.9%, zero emission vehicle registrations declined 40.2% to 57,111 units in the quarter, largely owing to the end of federal tax credits on the purchase of new EVs by the end of September.
• California leads the U.S. in electric vehicle (EV) adoption by a wide margin driven by state incentives and infrastructure investment.

Tesla Inc (TSLA) vehicle registrations dived 24% year-over-year  in the first quarter in the EV stronghold of California, according to data from the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA).

TSLA stock is trading 1% lower at the time of writing. The stock closed down on Monday, after clocking 15% gains over the past week.

Tesla Q1 Registrations

As per CNCDA, 31,958 Tesla vehicles were registered in California in the three months through the end of March, compared to 42,211 units in the corresponding period of 2025. The company’s market share in the electric vehicle segment, however, rose to 56%, as overall EV registrations in the state took a dive.

While overall vehicle registrations fell 8.9%, zero emission vehicle registrations declined 40.2% to 57,111 units in the quarter, largely owing to the end of federal tax credits on the purchase of new EVs to the end of September and affordability pressures.

CNCDA now expects total vehicle registrations to fall to 1.74 units in 2026 from 1.80 million recorded in 2025, owing to elevated transaction prices, tariff uncertainty, high interest rates, and near-record-low consumer confidence.

California leads the U.S. in electric vehicle (EV) adoption by a wide margin driven by state incentives and infrastructure investment. California accounted for about 29.6% of overall EV registrations across the U.S. in the three months through the end of March.

Hybrids Gain On EV demand Slip

According to the data, hybrids are gaining serious momentum as EV demand slips. Hybrid registrations exceeded 87,000 units in the quarter, in a push for Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp (TM) who docked 14,903 registrations of its hybrid Camry alone.

Other major names to buck the across-the-board dip in demand include Lucid, Mitsubishi, Genesis, Lexus, Volvo, and Chrysler.

How Did Retail Traders React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around TSLA stock stayed within the ‘extremely bullish’ territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume remained at ‘high’ levels.

Stocktwits users are now awaiting the company’s first quarter earnings, slated for Wednesday.

According to data from Fiscal AI, the company is slated to report first quarter revenue of $22.34 billion and earnings per share of $0.36, compared to the revenue of $19.34 billion and EPS of $0.27 recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2025.  The company’s vehicle deliveries in the quarter, however, fell below Wall Street expectations.

TSLA stock has gained 71% over the past 12 months. 

Read More: New York Follows Washington’s Lead, Sues Coinbase and Gemini Over ‘Illegal Gambling’

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.