According to the statistics consolidated and released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport on Tuesday, the total number of hybrid vehicles stood at 2.02 million by the end of last year with a whopping 482,349 units newly registered in 2024 alone.
First introduced to the domestic market in 2008, hybrids surpassed 500,000 units in 2019 and 1 million in 2022, with another million added in just two years.
The surging popularity of hybrids is attributed to factors such as the "EV chasm" or a temporary decline in demand for electric vehicles amid rising fuel costs.
Amid the options between conventional internal combustion engine cars and fully electric vehicles, hybrid models seem to offer both practicality and cost efficiency, making them an attractive choice for many consumers.
An industry insider predicted, "Hybrid vehicles are expected to remain popular until the electric vehicle market is fully saturated."
Thanks to the growth of hybrid cars, the penetration rate of eco-friendly cars with plug-in electric vehicles and hydrogen-powered cars exceeded 10 percent, seeing double-digit growth for the first time last year.
With the total number of vehicles registered in the country standing at 26.29 million, eco-friendly cars now account for 10.4 percent of all vehicles on the road, with 2.75 million, a significant increase from 2.5 percent in 2019.
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