As discussed in an earlier post, new car purchases can be a useful, timely economic indicator. Figure 1 below shows the statewide number of new car registrations from January 2018 through March 2025. This is a good proxy for the number of cars purchased by California residents.
New Car Registrations Grew in March. Seasonally adjusted new car registrations grew 5 percent from February to March. With this strong growth, March was the fourth highest monthly count of registrations in the last two years. As we track data for the next few months, we will see if this growth continues or if it was a transitory bump in anticipation of tariffs.
Californians Still Buying Fewer Cars Than Before the Pandemic. Statewide new car registrations declined steadily for several years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many other measures of economic activity, registrations plummeted in March and April 2020. Registrations rebounded substantially in the subsequent months but generally have remained below pre-pandemic levels. For example, although registrations in March 2025 were strong compared to the last couple years, they remained 4.5 percent lower than in March 2019.