Californians are buying fewer Teslas. That could be a bad sign for Elon Musk.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

California is the largest EV market in the US and accounts for nearly a third of electric car sales, according to data from Experian Automotive.

Meanwhile, Musk has attempted to distance himself from the state. In July, Musk said on X that he planned to move SpaceX and X’s headquarters out of California. The billionaire has been critical of Newsom and cited a bill that was signed by the governor in July that prohibits “forced disclosure” rules in public K-12 schools as his reasoning for leaving the state.

Musk has become increasingly vocal about politics in recent years and it’s unclear whether that may have had some sway on sales in California — a Democratic Party stronghold.

On Tuesday, European drugstore chain Rossman announced plans to stop buying Teslas due to Musk’s support for former president Donald Trump.

Earlier this year, some Tesla owners even said they were considering ditching the brand after Musk made a problematic post on social media and some have taken to putting “I bought this before we knew Elon was crazy” bumper stickers on their Teslas.

“For most people, Elon’s politics wouldn’t be an issue, but when people who have purchased are trying to disassociate that says something. Would that person really want to buy another one?” said Ivan Drury, an automotive analyst for Edmunds.

“It could be the thing that pushes someone over the edge who’s a little on the fence,” he added. “Do they really want to get wrapped up in that when there’s competent competition?”

And Tesla might not be keeping up with the competition.

Lack of updates

“In California there’s always the question of ‘is this cool? is this the newest thing?’ And Tesla really hasn’t done much to keep up with that,” Auto Trader editor Brian Moody told Business Insider.

The carmaker hasn’t updated many of its vehicles in years and its Cybertruck isn’t exactly geared toward the average consumer.

What’s more, California registration numbers are just another sign that traditional automakers are on Tesla’s heels, Moody said. “The companies that have had a century of experience manufacturing things in the real world, engineering things in the real world, marketing and distributing those things in real time, now they’re catching on.”

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