While August was a robust month for passenger vehicle sales in the U.S. — registering a 17 percent increase compared to August 2012 — there were remarkable jumps in sales of clean diesel and hybrid cars, with diesels showing a 41.8 percent increase and hybrids experiencing a 38.1 percent increase compared to this time last year, according to data compiled by Hybrid Cars.com and Baum and Associates.
For clean diesels, August’s 41.8 percent increase was preceded by a 38.1 percent in July 2013 over July 2012. It was the 32nd monthly increase in diesel car sales in the past 36 months, with 27 of those months registering double-digit increases.