Romania's new car registrations in Q1 2023 were 27.7 percent up from the same period of the previous year, while green cars jumped 34.8 percent to a market share of 20.2 percent, shows data released on Tuesday by the Association of Automobile Manufacturers and Importers (APIA).
The passenger car segment represents approximately 85 percent of the overall market, standing at 12,120 units in March 2023, 11.2 percent up year-over-year, told Agerpres.
Gas engines picked up 1.6 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching a share of 67.1 percent, while diesel-powered cars dipped 2.6 percent from the year-ago period, to a share of 12.8 percent of the total.
On the other hand, electrified cars, specifically fully electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, as well as full hybrid cars (which are also equipped with electric propulsion and don't need to be plugged in to charge) reached a market share of 20.2 percent at the end of March this year, topping by 7.4 percent the share of diesel engines. The market share of fully electric cars was 8.6 percent in Q1 2023, up from 7.3 percent a year ago.
Purchases of environmentally friendly cars increased by 34.8 percent in Q1 this year compared to the similar period of 2022, with fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles seeing a significant growth of 48.8 percent and 32 percent, respectively.
The majority of car purchases made in Q1 2023 were by legal entities (58 percent of the total), while individuals represent the difference of 42 percent.
There was a 26.4 percent increase in the category of light vehicles, an upward evolution similar to that of car registrations (+27.7 percent).