Hyundai, Kia's eco-friendly car sales jump 21 pct in Q1

SEOUL, April 14 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. said Sunday their environmentally friendly vehicle sales jumped 21 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier on subsidies and improving infrastructure.

From January to March, Hyundai and Kia sold a combined 75,242 eco-friendly vehicles in global markets, up from 62,590 units in the same period of 2018, according to sales data from the companies.

Environmentally friendly vehicles include all-electric, gasoline hybrid, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell electric models.

Of them, pure electric car sales more than doubled to 21,148 units in the first quarter from 8,152 a year earlier. All-electric cars accounted for 28 percent of eco-friendly vehicles sold in the first three months, the data showed.

The government plans to increase investment in charging infrastructure to assist the spread of electric cars, and to provided subsidies to those who purchase EVs.

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