The heyday of eco-friendly cars… In May, the number of hybrid cars registered in Korea surpassed that of diesel cars.

Amid an increase in sales of eco-friendly vehicles such as electric vehicles, it was found that the number of hybrid vehicles registered in Korea surpassed that of diesel vehicles for the first time last month. In Europe, sales of electric vehicles surpassed those of diesel vehicles for the first time.

According to the Kaizu U Data Research Center on the 4th, among the 149,541 new cars registered in Korea last month, the number registered by fuel type was 74,768 gasoline cars (50.0%), 27,863 hybrid cars (18.6%), and 2 diesel cars. It was followed by 6,898 units (18.0%), 13,785 electric vehicles (9.2%), and 5,153 LPG vehicles (3.4%).

Last month was the first time that the registration rate of hybrid vehicles surpassed that of diesel cars.

Hybrid vehicles, which serve as a stepping stone between gasoline/diesel vehicles and electric vehicles, are increasing their market share by following the eco-friendly trend in the automobile industry. In Korea, after the launch of the domestically produced first hybrid car, the Avante LPI Hybrid, in 2009, the popularity of hybrid cars has increased since the late 2010s.

The number of registered hybrid cars in Korea, which was only 62,000 in 2016, increased to 84,000 in 2017, 93,000 in 2018, 104,000 in 2019, 173,000 in 2020, 186,000 in 2021, It increased to 211,000 by 2022.

On the other hand, the number of registered diesel vehicles, which were popular in the 2010s due to their low fuel cost compared to gasoline, high fuel efficiency and engine performance, has decreased by more than half in the past five years. The number of registered diesel vehicles, which reached 872,000 in 2016, increased to 821,000 in 2017, 792,000 in 2018, 656,000 in 2019, 595,000 in 2020, 430,000 in 2021, and 351,000 in 2022. shrunk as

Nitrogen oxide emitted from diesel vehicles is pointed out as the main culprit of fine dust. After the ‘Diesel Gate’ in which Volkswagen of Germany was involved, the avoidance of diesel vehicles increased.

In Europe, which has decided to completely ban the sale of new vehicles with internal combustion engines from 2035, sales of electric vehicles have surpassed those of diesel vehicles.

According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), sales of electric vehicles in 30 European countries from January to April of this year were 559,733 units, exceeding the sales of diesel vehicles (550,391 units) during the same period by nearly 10,000 units, gaining the upper hand for the first time. Compared to the same period last year, the number of electric vehicles increased by 36.5% from 409,971 units, while the number of diesel vehicles decreased by 0.5% from 553,029 units.

In particular, electric vehicles sold 124,476 units in Germany, the largest European market, from January to April this year, up 17.6% from the previous year, recording the highest sales. In the UK, 96,752 units were sold, up 25.5% from the previous year, and in France, 81,972 units, up 45.9%.

In 2019, the number of diesel vehicles sold in Europe was 4,798,390 units, showing an overwhelming advantage, reaching 13 times that of electric vehicles (360,164 units), but as European countries strengthened environmental regulations related to automobiles to achieve carbon neutrality, they lost their place. I’m going.

Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors, which exceeded 500,000 units in cumulative sales within 9 years of entering the European electric vehicle market in April, are also making efforts to continuously expand their market share in Europe by launching electric sports utility vehicles (SUVs).

Reporter Jung Jae-young [email protected]

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