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The HybridCars.com monthly sales Dashboard is a collaboration of HybridCars.com and Baum & Associates, a Michigan-based market research firm focusing on automotive issues including the hybrid and electric vehicle market.

Overall sales for July were down from a year ago and from June. Clearly, sales this year are down from a year ago and this trend is likely to continue with the overall decline for the year is currently at 3 percent. Each of the categories was down from June, but electrics and plug-ins were up from year-ago. Year-to-date, all categories were up except for diesels.

Sales for full electric vehicles were down from June and flat as compared to last July. Of course, year-to-date sales are up significantly based primarily on new entries. While the Model 3 hit the market in small numbers in July (30), sales of both the Model S and X were down due in part to the impact of the new Model 3 on the production line. Over the next several months, Model 3 production (and sales) will of course ramp up, but there will be some negative impact on the Model S and X.

Meanwhile, the Chevrolet Bolt had its best month ever in July, with just under 2,000 units sold. The vehicle will be available throughout the country in August, although supplies remain focused on the West Coast and the mid-Atlantic. We do not expect monthly sales to be far above 2,000 in the coming months. The Leaf had a poor month which will continue until the new model arrives early next year. Besides the introduction of the Model 3, the Honda Clarity battery electric vehicle (BEV) is also new this month. The Clarity name has been used for the fuel cell version, and will also appear as a plug-in at a later date.

Plug-in hybrids were down from June , but up from last July and year-to-date. The Prius Prime and the Volt led the category, with the Ford C-Max and Fusion following. Volumes of the Pacifica have been released from a quality hold and as a result volumes have been erratic over the first several months of availability (they remain estimated as FCA has not released sales volumes). Unlike the full electric category where Tesla and GM dominate sales, plug-in sales are split among four automakers, namely Toyota, Ford, GM, and BMW. Sales of the Mercedes C-Class were up this month, presumably because of sales to fleet buyers.

Hybrid sales were down from June and last July, with the Prius Liftback still leading the category. That said, the vehicle remains well below previous years. The Toyota RAV4 had another good month, as did the Kia Niro which is moving towards the top of the category after a few months on the market. It of course benefits from its crossover body style, but its off road capabilities are limited (presumably this is not a problem to most buyers). The Fusion and C-Max hybrids had poor months, the former based on lower sales of the underlying model. Toyota enjoyed 60 percent hybrid market share in July, up from the just over 50 percent share it has had in previous months. Year-to-date, the biggest sources of growth come from the Kia Niro, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord, Toyota Highlander, and Hyundai Ioniq. However, these gains have been offset by declines in the Prius Liftback, Toyota Camry, Ford C-Max, Prius C, Hyundai Sonata, and Kia Optima.

The diesel segment had a terrible month based upon two factors: 1) Sales of the Ford Transit were extremely low (presumably due to a decline in sales to company fleets) and 2) Ram Pickup diesels remain off the market. However, EPA and FCA have come to an agreement on the diesel engine included in the Ram Pickup and sales are likely to resume in late August as modest production has begun. Sales of the Ford Transit should also increase going forward. Volumes for other models are rather modest with Volkswagen diesel sales down since the stock of available models that were certified for sale has been depleted.