April 20, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Electric and other environmentally friendly vehicles accounted for 1.5 percent of Korea’s car registrations last year, the Transport Ministry said on Jan. 17.

Cumulated registrations of electric, hybrid and hydrogen-powered vehicles stood at 339,134 units in 2017, grabbing a 1.5 percent share of the country’s total vehicle registrations of 22.53 million units, the ministry said in a statement.

A year earlier, the corresponding figure was at 244,158 units, a 1.1 percent share of total vehicle registrations of 21.80 million units, it said.

Last year, there was one car for every 2.3 people in a country with a population of 51 million. Among all registered vehicles, 91.6 percent were made locally with the remaining 8.4 percent imported mainly from Europe and the United States, the ministry said.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)