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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 October were strong for the second straight month, as fleet sales and replacement demand from Harvey and Irma led to a strong monthly rate (adjusted for seasonality).

Sales for the remainder of the year are likely to moderate from the level of the last two months. All categories (hybrid, plug in, battery electric, and diesel) were up from last October but down from September (in line with the decline in the overall market). Year-to-date, sales for each category is up with the exception of diesels.

October was a relatively slow month for battery electric vehicles, with the Bolt EV hitting an all-time high, while Tesla had a relatively poor month. There are of course significant production problems with the Model 3, and the first month of the quarter is generally a more modest month for the Model S and Model X. The Bolt EV is the category leader this month by a wide margin and has apparently reached its “level,” of approximately 30,000 units a year. Obviously, the Model 3 will likely lead the category in the future, although volume production will apparently not occur until at least the end of the first quarter of 2018. Sales of the Leaf were minimal and will remain so until the new model is available early next year. Production of the Leaf has already been curtailed in order to reduce inventory in preparation for the new model. Sales of the Leaf will increase in the Spring and again late next year when a longer-range model becomes available. Given the delayed launch of the Model 3, the entire increase in year-to-date sales of battery electric vehicles can be accounted for by the Chevy Bolt EV.

Plug in hybrids declined from last month, although they were up from last October. The Prius Prime and Chevy Volt continued to pace the category and the sales of these vehicles are rather steady. Conversely, there appears to be a limit for these products that is unlikely to change much going forward. The two Ford products (C-Max and Fusion Energi) both had relatively modest sales this month. While the Volt is down modestly for the year, the sales of the Prius Prime accounts for all of the increase in the category year-to-date. Volvo’s S90 Plug In has been added this month, joining the XC60 and XC90. Volumes on these products are modest, but illustrate Volvo’s interest in spreading the technology across its product line. The Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima continue to appear and at least for now, we have replaced our estimates with actual sales as reported by the automakers. The same is true for the Chrysler Pacifica, for which automaker-reported numbers have been obtained.

The hybrid category had a good month, with the Prius Liftback falling to third in the category, behind the Ford Fusion and Toyota RAV4. The Fusion has had a very good year and is increasingly finding itself at the top of the category. The RAV4 has enjoyed a run of the last three months above 5,000 monthly. While the Prius Liftback remains the leading player in the category, it is of course down from previous years and is unlikely to regain the higher numbers of years ago. This is of course due to increased product availability of models from a variety of automakers, and perhaps more importantly, the increased marketing of crossovers in hybrid form which are of course sought after by consumers. The Nissan Rogue has been sold in modest numbers for a few months, but sales have not been reported. The product debuts in our report this month, but clearly the volumes are well short of the Toyota RAV4 where the product is a mainstream offering. We expect the Honda CR-V will be launched in hybrid form next year, as it is already available in other markets. Sales for the GMC Sierra mild hybrid have been restated based on additional information obtained from the automaker. This product is offered primarily in California and is essentially a market “test” and volumes are therefore modest. We expect the Chevrolet Silverado will be offered, but sales volumes are not yet available.

The diesel segment showed improvement as the Transit sold well (and led the category) and the recently approved diesel engine continued to reappear in the Ram Pickup (although share is still building and will be for several months). The reappearance of the Ram Pickup will lead to growth in the diesel category although the focus is and will remain on pickups and vans, as opposed to the broader availability across cars and crossovers, which has declined due in large part to the VW scandal.