According to an industry association, South Korea experienced a decline in exports of environmentally friendly vehicles for the first time in the first quarter. This marks a departure from the trend of year-on-year increases observed over the past 12 quarters.
Shipments of eco-friendly vehicles fell 5.6 per cent on-year to 178,003 units in the January-March quarter from 188,607 units in the same period of last year, according to the Korea Automobile & Mobility Association (KAMA).
Yonhap news agency reports that eco-friendly cars encompass various models such as gasoline hybrid, battery electric, plug-in hybrid, and hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles.
Exports of gasoline hybrid models rose 5.5 per cent to 84,040 units in the first quarter from 79,624 a year ago, while combined shipments of three other models declined 14 per cent to 93,963 from 108,983 during the same period.
Global EV demand is expected to remain sluggish for the time being due mainly to potential fire risks and a lack of charging infrastructure.
Given battery electric vehicles account for a large portion of the country's eco-friendly vehicle shipments, its overall eco-friendly car exports will likely fall further for the rest of the year, industry officials said.
Market tracker SNE Research projected that global EV registrations will fall 19 per cent on-year to 16.75 million units this year.
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