Tesla Model 3 vehicles made in China are seen during a delivery event at their factory in Shanghai, China on January 7, 2020.
Aly Song | Reuters
Tesla’s vehicle registrations nearly halved in the U.S. state of California in the second quarter, according to data from Cross-Sell, a market research firm that collects title and registration data.
Most parts of the United States were under government-imposed stay-at-home orders between April and June to combat the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, which impacted production and caused a drop in car sales.
Tesla’s only American vehicle factory in California was closed for about six weeks of the quarter.
The report released Wednesday showed that registrations in California, an innovative market for the electric car maker, plummeted nearly 48% from a year earlier to 9,774 vehicles in the three months ended June 2020.
Model 3 registrations in the state, which accounted for more than half of total registrations, fell 63.6% to 5,951 vehicles.
Total vehicle registrations in the 23 states from which the data was collected decreased nearly 49% to 18,702 vehicles.
Earlier this month, the automaker beat analyst estimates for second-quarter vehicle deliveries, defying a trend of declining sales in the auto industry as Covid-related closing orders 19 kept people home.
Registration figures may not accurately reflect the number of vehicle deliveries during the quarter, as registrations in the United States generally take approximately 30 days from the time of sale.
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