Just who is buying the much ballyhooed Tesla Model 3 sedan?
According the California New Car Dealers Association, 3,723 people in the state during the first quarter of the year, that's who.
The CNCDA, which released its latest data on new car registrations late Tuesday, said those Model 3 numbers were enough to put the car on top of the "Near Luxury" car segment, with 14.3 percent of those cars registered in California during the quarter. Trailing behind the Model 3 were the Mercedes C-Class, with 3,323 registrations, the BMW 3-Series, with its 3,260 registrations, the Lexus ES, which had 2,044 registrations, and the Infiniti Q50 and its 1,944 cars registered between January and March.
The popularity of the Model 3 as noted in the CNCDA report gave a boost to Tesla's overall registrations, which hit 7,530 during the quarter, a gain of 58.6 percent from the same period a year ago.
The Model 3 has been the subject of almost daily opinions from Wall Street, the auto industry and those reviewing the sedan, which Tesla has touted as its first, mid-price electric car, with a starting price tag of $35,000, but which can rise to almost $80,000 with certain amenities and extras.
On Tuesday, Consumer Reports said it couldn't recommend the Model 3 due to concerns about the vehicle braking system. Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk responded by saying Tesla would fix any brake problems at no cost to Model 3 owners. On Wednesday, Baird analyst Ben Kallo said in a research note that he believes most of the negative reports on Tesla have been "immaterial" and that the company should make significant progress in producing the Model 3.
Tesla has said it expects to have 5,000 Model 3 sedans coming off the assembly line every week by the end of June.
