CHICAGO, April 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Cars.com, the premier online resource for buying and selling new and used cars, compiled a list of U.S. cities with the most environmentally-conscious car shoppers. The list was assembled analyzing data from Cars.com's millions of visitors who searched for hybrids or other environmentally friendly cars. The study's findings indicate that shoppers on the West coast tend to be the greenest.

"It is not surprising that California and other West Coast cities top the list with some of the greenest car shoppers. That part of the country has long led the charge in the green movement," said Joe Wiesenfelder, Cars.com's Executive Editor and resident green automotive guru. "With abundant charging stations, special perks for eco-friendly drivers in some western cities and robust infrastructure, the West Coast is well equipped to cater to the needs of eco-conscious drivers."

As car shoppers nationwide continue to embrace green cars, Cars.com has found that the following cities have the greenest car shoppers (ranked from greenest to least green):


    1. San Francisco--Oakland--San Jose, Calif.
    2. Monterey--Salinas, Calif.
    3. San Diego, Calif.
    4. Portland, Ore.
    5. Eureka, Calif.
    6. Washington D.C.
    7. Honolulu, Hawaii
    8. Lima, Ohio
    9. Medford--Klamath Falls, Ore.
    10. Sacramento--Stockton--Modesto, Calif.

"We've continued to see an increase in shoppers searching for hybrids or eco-friendly cars. From 2012 to 2013, we saw a 5% jump in these searches and a 106% increase in 'green' inventory listed on the site," said Wiesenfelder. "As automakers continue to introduce new hybrids that meet the needs of a wide array of drivers, dealer inventories are also growing to meet the needs of shoppers looking to go green."

This week, Cars.com also released a list of its editors' top hybrid cars for the money. To see that list, click here. To search for a hybrid or eco-friendly vehicle in your area, visit www.Cars.com.

ABOUT CARS.COM

Cars.com is an award-winning online destination for car shoppers that offers information from consumers and experts to help buyers formulate opinions on what to buy, where to buy and how much to pay for a car. Cars.com offers thousands of new and used vehicle listings, consumer reviews, side-by-side comparison tools, photo galleries, videos, unbiased editorial content and many other tools. Cars.com puts millions of car buyers in control of their shopping process with the information they need to make confident buying decisions. Launched in June 1998, Cars.com is a division of Classified Ventures LLC, which is owned by leading media companies, including A.H. Belo (NYSE: AHC), Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI), Tribune Company and The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO).

SOURCE Cars.com