Last year 44,088 new passenger vehicles were sold in Croatia, down 2.6% on 2021, and only in December were sales up year on year, by 8.8%, with 2,703 cars sold, the Promocija Plus market research agency said on Thursday.

December also registered the second-lowest sales in 2022 after November, when 2,698 were sold. The largest number was sold in July (5,390), and more than 5,000 were sold also in June (5,116).

Volkswagen sold the largest number of new vehicles last year (5,288), accounting for 12% of all sales.

Škoda was second with 4,506 vehicles sold and a 10.2% market share, while Kia was third with 3,413 vehicles sold and a 7.7% market share.

The best-selling model of 2022 was Škoda Octavia (1,957 units), followed by Dacia Duster (1,523) and Opel Crossland (1,284).

Statistics show that one in two new cars sold last year were fuelled by petrol (22,824), making up 51.8% of all sales.

Hybrids were next with 9,122 sales and a 20.7% market share, while diesel-powered vehicles ranked third with 8,962 sold and a 20.3% market share.

Electric cars held 3.1% of the market, with 1,374 units sold.