Automakers found that American consumers prefer to purchase trucks and crossover SUVs rather than passenger cars, even though gas prices remain over $3.00 per gallon. As a result, auto manufacturers are providing year-end deals for compact and mid-size models that are in lesser demand, increasing vehicle sales in August by 5.4 percent (1.58 million vehicles).[1] Total new vehicle sales last month were at an annual rate of 17.5 million–the highest annual rate since January 2006. Electric vehicles sales, however, have stagnated at 3.6 percent of the market, making Obama’s goal of one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015 an impossible target.
