Diesel-powered passenger vehicles showed a 41.8% increase in U.S. sales last month compared to August 2012, according to data compiled by HybridCars.com and Baum and Associates. This was the 32nd monthly increase in diesel car sales in the past 36 months, with 27 of those months registering double-digit increases, says the Diesel Technology Forum.
These findings follow data compiled by R.L. Polk and Co. for the Diesel Technology Forum earlier this year that showed clean diesel vehicle registrations in the U.S. had increased by more than 24% from 2010 through 2012.
‘The introduction of new diesels in the U.S. market is contributing to this summer's sales surge, and virtually every market analyst projects that diesel sales will increase even more significantly as additional diesels enter the U.S. market in the coming months,’ says Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum.
‘While clean diesel cars make up about one percent of the total U.S. vehicle market, the diesel share increases to over three percent when pickup trucks and vans are included,’ he adds.
By comparison, the diesel sales rate in Europe is substantially higher: 54%.
The Diesel Technology Forum notes that there are currently 17 diesel cars, eight diesel pickup trucks and six diesel vans available in the U.S. market, but at least 19 new diesels are scheduled to be introduced in the next two years.
