EV, hybrids up, fuel car sales drop

Electric vehicles and hybrid sales are galloping at unprecedented levels in Cyprus, with the registration of eco-friendly cars increasing in the first nine months of the year to the detriment of petrol and diesel fuelled vehicles.

The statistical service Cystat said in its report for the January-September period that total registrations of motor vehicles numbered 4,428 in September, a year-on-year decrease of 3.9% compared to 4.607 in September 2023.

Passenger saloon cars also registered a fall, dropping 7.5% y-o-y to 3,442, from 3,722 in September 2023.

However, total registrations of motor vehicles increased by 13.2% in January-September to 38,819, from 34,280 in the same period in 2023.

Passenger saloon cars increased to 30,344 from 27,499 in January-September 2023, a rise of 10.3%. Of these, 12,304 or 40.5% were new and 18,040 or 59.5% were used imports. Rental cars in particular recorded a fall of 28.5% to 3,438.

The share of petrol-powered passenger cars decreased in January-September to 49.7% of all motor vehicle registrations (from 59.3% in the same period last year) and that of diesel-powered cars dropped to 9.9% of the total from 10.0% in 2023.

On the other hand, the share of electric cars rose from 2.6% in the three quarters of 2023 to 3.6% in 2024 and of hybrid cars from 28.1% to 36.7%.

Motor coaches and buses decreased to 119 in January-September, from 266 in the same period of 2023.

Goods conveyance vehicles (trucks, vans, pick-ups) increased by 33.6% to 4,311 in January-September, from 3,266 in the same period last year.

In particular, light goods vehicles increased by 37.4% to 3,454, heavy goods vehicles by 26.6% to 504, road tractors (units of trailers) by 60.4% to 170, while rental vehicles decreased by 12.0% to 183.

Mopeds under 50cc increased to 603 in January-September 2024, compared to 230 in the same period last year.

Motor cycles greater than 50cc increased by 10.6% to 2,933 in January-September, compared to 2,651 in the same period of 2023.