Tesla is closing in on major luxe rivals

Tesla gained more ground on BMW, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz in the first quarter as it remained the No. 4 luxury brand in terms of U.S. registrations, according to new-vehicle registration data from Experian.

The California EV specialist registered 71,345 vehicles, an increase of 52 percent compared with the same period a year earlier. BMW was first at 84,397 (up 29 percent), Lexus second at 80,166 (up 32 percent) and Mercedes-Benz third at 77,826 (up 24 percent). Tesla remained ahead of Audi, which it leapfrogged in 2020.

While Infiniti and Jaguar were the only luxury brands whose registrations declined in the first quarter, Tesla's gain outpaced all but Genesis, whose much smaller registrations more than doubled.

To be sure, many factors could change how the luxury race shapes up this year — including ongoing supplier and shipping constraints — and the first quarter of 2020 makes for unusual comparisons because of COVID-19-related factory and dealership shutdowns, which abnormally and severely depressed sales.

Other registration data from Experian shows that, while EVs such as those from Tesla remain largely a niche product — they accounted for about 1.7 percent of total industry registrations — they continue to attract new customers into a segment.

Nationally, there were 99,030 EV registrations in the first quarter, Experian data shows, up 66 percent over the same period of 2020. Registrations are often lower than total sales, and it takes some time for a vehicle sold to a retail customer to show up in registration data.

Unlike other automakers, Tesla does not disclose its U.S. sales. Instead, it reports deliveries only on a global basis. The EV maker continues to dominate the country's EV registrations, accounting for 72 percent.

Tesla's Model Y crossover was the top-registered EV nationally by a substantial margin in the first quarter, with 40,772 registrations, or 41 percent of all EV registrations. The No. 2 vehicle — Tesla's Model 3 sedan — had 27,362 registrations and came within 323 of besting the combined EV registrations of every other non-Tesla brand. The Chevrolet Bolt accounted for the highest number of non-Tesla registrations: 9,069 vehicles.

As expected, EV registrations were highest in California: 37,189, or 38 percent of the nation's total. Florida was No. 2 at 8,010, followed by Texas at 5,500 and New York at 5,047.