Almost 6,300 new cars were sold in Croatia in March 2018, which is around 64 percent up from February, and about 16 percent up from March 2017, according to report published by the Promocija Plus market research agency on Sunday.

In the first three months of 2018, some 13,900 cars were sold, which is 27 percent more than in the same quarter last year.

The sharp jump in car sales is attributed to new tax regulations introduced in January which included tax exemption for vehicles with a retail price under 150,000 kuna (€20,188). Around two thirds of all vehicles sold in this period fall into this category.

The best-selling car brand in the first quarter of 2018 was Volkswagen, which holds a market share of 12.9 percent, followed by Skoda at 11.1 percent, and Opel at 10.6 percent. In the same period, the most popular model among Croatian buyers was the Skoda Octavia with 935 units sold, followed by Opel Astra at 554, Volkswagen Golf at 526, Suzuki Vitara at 486 and Renault Clio at 450.

Slightly over half of all vehicles sold were gasoline-powered, and 47 percent of the total sales went to diesel-powered models. The share of electric and hybrid vehicles sold was less than 2 percent.

(€1 = 7.43 kuna)