The share of environmentally friendly cars (hybrid and electric) reached more than 20% of Hyundai and Kia sales in Korea this year.
Data showed that Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp. sold more than one out of every five environmentally friendly cars sold this year, due to the increasing popularity of this type of car.
And the South Korean Yonhap News Agency reported yesterday, that the two companies sold 64,4 thousand hybrid and electric cars during the period from January to last March, which represents 23.5 percent of domestic sales, which amounted to 273.7 thousand cars.
It is noteworthy that this is the first time that the percentage of electric cars sold in the local market exceeds 20%.
This percentage represents an increase of 9.4 percentage points compared to the same period last year, and it also exceeds the percentage of sales of environmentally friendly cars during the whole of 2021, which amounted to 18.2%.
Observers said, “The rise in sales of environmentally friendly cars comes with the expansion of automakers in the production of these cars in light of their rising popularity among South Korean consumers and the continued demand for hybrid models.”
Hyundai and Kia sold 22.7 thousand electric cars during the first quarter of the year, regarding 2.6 times more than last year.
Kia also sold 36,500 electric and hybrid cars during the first quarter, an increase of 75.6% compared to last year.
Hyundai sold 13,500 electric cars during the first quarter of this year, an increase of 2.5 times compared to sales during the same period last year.