Despite the diesel emissions scandal, sales of diesel vehicles are still on the rise.
A new report from the Diesel Technology Forum shows registrations of diesel vehicles increased by over 280,000 in the U.S. last year. That’s despite all the negative press surrounding the Volkswagen diesel scandal and other automakers that are currently under investigation. Leading the way in total diesel vehicle registrations for 2016 was the state of Texas, followed by California and Florida. Rounding out the top 10 were Washington, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Colorado, Oregon, Georgia, and Illinois.
The analysis comes from the latest Vehicles in Operation (VIO) data compiled by IHS Automotive.
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Some states saw a noticeable increase in diesel registrations, with Vermont topping the list with a 35.6-percent growth from 2015 to 2016. Maine had 29.3 percent more registrations, while New Hampshire came in third with 12.1 percent. The rest of the top 10 includes Michigan (10.4 percent), District of Columbia (8.5 percent), Wisconsin (8.2 percent), Oregon (7.8 percent), Hawaii (7.1 percent), Montana (6.7 percent), and Washington (6.3 percent).
The growth is more impressive when you take into account there were 25 percent fewer choices in the market last year compared to 2015. According to the Diesel Technology Forum, helping fuel the increase is the expanding popularity and increasing options in the light-duty pickup segment.
It’s a possibility we’ll keep seeing increases in the coming years with the addition of new models like the Chevrolet Cruze diesel and Ford F-150 diesel. Mazda is also expected to finally introduce its Skyactiv diesel CX-5 in the U.S. The market, however, is missing Mercedes-Benz’s vehicles as the German automaker previously confirmed it will not be bringing diesel vehicles to the U.S. this year.
In total, there are more than eight million diesel passenger vehicles currently in the U.S.