Tesla Model S Outsells Porsche, Jaguar, Buick In California

It would appear that the electric Tesla Model S has come up in California as a vehicle that's not only striking the technology headlines, but the high-rolling sales market as well. According to a recent California New Car Dealers Association report for the first part of 2013, new-vehicle registrations have marked up the Tesla Model S as a dominator in the luxury car category. With a whopping 4,714 Model S vehicles registered in California with this registrar over the first six months of 2013, Tesla takes the cake from other top-dollar automobiles like the Audi A6 (having registered 1,619 vehicles) and the Lexus GS (at 2,298 units for the first half of 2013) – those two entries represent a 10% share of the Luxury and Sports vehicle segment together while the Tesla Model S kicks out 12% on its own.

The two models that beat out the Model S in the Luxury and Sports arena in California for the first 6 months of the year were the Mercedes E-Class – registering 6,582 units, and the BMW 5-Series with 6,077 units. At the moment – year-to-date, that is – Tesla represents a 0.6% share of the car and light truck registration environment – that's quite a jump from a 0% share in 2012.

Automobile companies with a smaller California vehicle registration market share than Tesla at the moment include:

• Buick 0.5

• FIAT 0.5

• Land Rover 0.5

• Lincoln 0.3

• Mitsubishi 0.3

• Porsche 0.5

• Volvo 0.4

• Jaguar 0.1

Again, that represents a year-to-date portion of sales of all the new vehicles registered in the state of California. Tesla is still a far cry away from the Toyota Prius with 33,987 registrations during this first half of the year and the Honda Civic bringing in 31,798 registrations. But the point remains – Tesla is an up-and-coming fighter in not only the luxury segment, but the whole of the car industry.

Should this brand bring on an "affordable" electric vehicle in the near future, there's a real chance the company will start to see some real results – and not just in the high-priced market.