Hyundai Motor's Casper EV (Hyundai Motor)

By Koh Hyunjeong

Domestic sales of eco-friendly cars like electric vehicles (EV) and hybrids last month outstripped those of internal combustion vehicles for the first time.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on June 17 announced automotive industry trends saying 74,000 (52%) of the 142,000 vehicles sold in May nationwide were of the green type like EVs and hybrids.

Cars with internal combustion engines using gas or diesel as fuel saw sales fall 22.7% from the same month last year, while those of eco-friendly cars jumped 39% to lead change on the market.

By green vehicle type, hybrids led in sales with 50,614 units, followed by EVs (21,445), plug-in hybrids (1,360) and those powered by hydrogen (92).

A ministry source said the shift was apparently caused by the launch of more models such as the Casper EV, Musso EV and EV4.

The positive effect also spilled over to automotive exports. Last month, eco-friendly cars showed stronger sales with a record-high rise of 10.2% to 75,000 units year on year.

hjkoh@korea.kr