YTD and July/18 sales figures can be found here. Interpret the numbers as you like. Monthly Plug-In Sales Scorecard
Yeah, it did occur to me after the fact that my post had a certain amount of "no duh.." about it with regards to sedans being traded in to buy a BEV sedan. :-P It will be interesting when Tesla makes a pickup. Many truck buyers take brand loyalty to absurd levels.
A couple of things... Having sold vehicles in a previous life, I learned very quickly you can't judge a book by its cover. Just because someone drives a "cheap" car doesn't mean they can't afford another vehicle that's double or triple or quadruple or.... the price. It just means they appreciate a good value and/or numerous other reasons. Lots of early prius adopters were rich (celeb's for example) and chose to show their green side by buying a "cheap" hybrid. And I'm sure there are a few prius trade-ins who are folks stretching to buy these higher-end model 3's but are doing so anyways; using the $7500 while it's still available for example. Also, one needs to look closer at the original quote. It says "the top non-Tesla trade-ins". IOW, the majority of trade-ins are coming from Tesla S and X owners; folks who've proven they can afford an even more expensive car than the Model 3. Next, the top five list reflects traditional car sales in California (imports leading the way) so it's not a big surprise that Asian brands make up the majority of trade-ins. Finally, on a somewhat other note: I've stated more than once (maybe in this thread too) that I think Prius/hybrids are a gateway drug for EV driving and fuel (pun intended) future PHEV/BEV purchases. GM stated at one time that the leading conquest for Volt sales was a Prius owner. So, I was not surprised that Tesla is seeing this too. My 2 cents.
I haven’t seen evidence to support this supposition. I agree the list is the top 5 non-Tesla vehicles traded in. But that doesn’t mean the majority of trade ins are coming from S and X owners. It likely means either S or X owners were somewhere on that list. My guess would be S owners, as the X is very different than the 3. I am also unclear over what time span. If this is vehicles traded in since the Model 3 started selling, I’d be shocked if the Model S didn’t provide the majority of trade-in’s, as the majority of the Model 3s went to previous owners. If it was over the month of June, then the case isn’t so clear.
Tesla Model 3 Sales Skyrocket, US Toyota Camry & Prius Sales Plummet — Coincidence? | CleanTechnica
Sure, most would be S but a few X and roadsters thrown in there too. It would also stand to reason that Tesla would greatly value used Teslas as opposed to ICE or non-Tesla vehicles and offer better trade in allowances on them; thus more likely to be traded in than non-Teslas.
Toyota had an electric RAV4 long ago, and their effort in exploring other-than-Lithium-battery means of converting chemical energy in electrical energy is highly commendable. I predict Toyota will start mass-producing EV's as soon as the manufacturing costs drop to the level of ICE vehicles.