The figures, based on the Interior Ministry's car registration records, show that 8,104 new cars were sold in the first three months of the year, an increase of 10.6% over the same period of 2014.
The best-selling car make in the first quarter of the year was Volkswagen, with 1,253 cars or 15.4% of all new vehicles sold in Croatia. It was followed by Skoda with 819 vehicles sold and a market share of 10.1%, Opel with 755 cars (9.3%), Renault with 744 cars (9.2%), and Dacia with 709 cars sold (8.7%).
Broken down by car model, the best-selling model was the Volkswagen Golf with 477 cars sold and a market share of 5.9%. It was followed by the Dacia Sandero with 458 cars sold and a market share of 5.6%, the Opel Corsa with 399 cars (4.9%), the Skoda Octavia with 390 cars (4.8%), and the Volkswagen Polo with 358 cars sold (4.4%).
The figures show that Croatian car buyers prefer diesel cars to those powered by petrol, as diesel vehicles accounted for 64.5% of the new vehicles sold in the first quarter of 2015, while petrol cars accounted for 34.5%. The figures also revealed that 30 LNG cars, 28 hybrid cars and 23 electric cars were sold in that period.