The number of registered vehicles in South Korea rose 0.7 percent in the first half to over 26 million, helped by environment friendly models, government data showed Sunday. Accumulated car registrations came to 26.13 million units as of end-June, up from 25.95 million at the end of 2023, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. Increased registrations of eco-friendly vehicles, including all-electric, hydrogen-powered, and gasoline hybrid models, helped offset decreased registrations of combustion engine models during the same period, it said. "Registrations of diesel vehicles have been on the decline since 2021 but registrations of gasoline hybrid models are on a sharp increase amid slowing sales of electric vehicles," the statement said. The number of eco-friendly cars registered here stood at 2.41 million units as of end-June, up 12 percent from 2.12 million at end-December, while that of gasoline, diesel and liquefied natural gas-powered models fell 0.5 percent to 23.54 million autos from 23.65 million. Source: Yonhap News Agency