New Delhi, Sept. 7 -- A 16% year-on-year rise in passenger vehicle sales in August helps explain cheerful faces in India's automobile sector. But there's a more impressive trend awheel if not afoot.

Research by Equirus Securities confirms what was observed earlier too: a big shift in energy preferences among buyers away from petrol to cleaner CNG and electricity. Hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs) have been rolling onto the streets in fast-rising numbers. Together, these three categories accounted for 42% of sales last month, overtaking the 41% share of petrol vehicles, which fell from 46% a year earlier.

Category-wise, the share of CNG vehicles expanded to 25% in August from 21% a year earlier and that of EVs to 7.7% from 5.9%, althoug...