Ljubljana - Nearly 30,000 cars and vans were registered in Slovenia for the first time in the first half of the year, a decrease of 17.43% from the same period last year, data from the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce shows. According to the newspaper Finance, electric car sales were up by 56% in the period.

A total of 25,847 cars were registered for the first time in the period, a decline of 16.62% year-on-year. The most popular brands were Volkswagen (3,895), Renault (2,482) and Škoda (2,328), and the most popular models were the Renault Clio (796), the Volkswagen T-roc (768) and the Kia Sportage (657).

The number of vans registered for the first time dropped even more, by 22.21% to 4,090. The best-selling makes were Renault (943), Ford (603) and Fiat (519) with the best selling models being the Renault Master (461), the Fiat Doblo Cargo (407) and the Ford Transit Custom (360).

The newspaper Finance reported yesterday that car sales dropped by 16.7% in the first half of the year as electric car sales surged by 56%. Plug-in cars now represent 4% of the market.