The cumulative number of registered vehicles in the country increased slightly in the third quarter, with electric vehicles(EVs) exceeding 300-thousand units.

According to data by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Friday, the number of registered cars in the country came to 25-point-35 million units as of the end of September, equivalent to one vehicle per two-point-03 people.

The total in the third quarter of the year increased by zero-point-six percent with 140-thousand more units registered, and although newly registered cars dropped one-tenth of a percent in quarter three at 429-thousand, that figure was an on-year increase of five-point-three percent.

The number of environmentally friendly cars – electric, hydrogen and hybrid vehicles – ­ climbed eight-point-three percent in the third quarter from a quarter earlier to account for five-point-eight percent of total car registrations.

The number of diesel cars had been declining since 2014 but turned upward in the third quarter due to soaring oil prices, with newly registered units rising three-point-seven percent on-year to over 100-thousand.