New car sales in Slovenia fell by 14% last year after recovering by 3% in 2021 following a 27% drop in 2020, the year worst affected by Covid-19. Of the 46,339 cars registered in the country for the first time last year, 9,170 were electric vehicles, a rise of 12% on the year before, data from the Chamber of Commerce shows.

Volkswagen continued as the most popular brand with 7,354 vehicles sold, followed by Škoda (4,575) and Renault (4,031). The trio make for just under 35% of the entire market.

The top selling car was the Škoda Octavia small family car with 1,405 vehicles sold, ahead of the Volkswagen T-Roc subcompact crossover SUV (1,282) and the Renault Clio supermini (1,257), which is assembled in Slovenia.

Renault (1,366), Ford (1,250) and Volkswagen (960) dominated van sales. These plummeted by 26% to 7,139. The most popular models were the Ford Transit Custom (693), the Renault Master (640) and the Citroen Jumper (572).

The most popular all-electric car was the Tesla Model Y (240), followed by the Škoda Enyaq (201) and the Volkswagen ID.4 (188). The Mercedes C Class was the top-seller among plug-in hybrids (99), ahead of the Hyundai Tucson (75) and the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (55).

The figures on new registrations do not include second-hand cars, the sale of which has shot up since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.