Seoul: Electric vehicles (EVs) made up nearly 20 percent of newly registered cars in South Korea in August, setting a record following the release of new models by major carmakers, data showed Sunday. Of the 126,787 cars newly registered in the country last month, EVs accounted for 23,269, or 18.4 percent, according to data compiled by auto industry tracker Carisyou.

According to Yonhap News Agency, for the January-August period, EVs accounted for 12.7 percent of the newly registered vehicles. EVs took up 2.4 percent of registered cars in 2020 and jumped to 9.8 percent in 2022 but had remained at around 9 percent since due to a market slowdown. The accumulated sales of EVs in South Korea are widely expected to top the 200,000 mark for the first time this year.

Over the January-August period, the number of newly registered EVs came to 141,986, driven by the release of new models by Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp., along with global players such as Mercedes-Benz AG and BMW.