Although the registrations of the new vehicles increased by 4.3 percent in the country in march this year compared to the stipulated period of the previous year, the number of new private car was decreased by 3.9%, according to the Statistics Finland.

In March 2017 a total of 18,142 new motor vehicles were registered, of which 13,067 were automobiles, said a press release on Thursday.

The first registrations of the total automobiles increased by 4.3 per cent from the corresponding month of the previous year. In March the number of new private cars registered was 11,202, which was 3.9 per cent down from the year before. The share of new diesel-driven passenger cars was 30.7 per cent. These data are based on the Vehicular and Driver Data Register of the Finnish Transport Safety Agency.

In the January to March period of 2017 a total of 50,228 vehicles were first registered. Compared to the year before, there was an increase of 6.3 per cent. The number of private cars first registered in the January to March period was 33,113, which is as much as the year before.

The most common passenger car makes first registered in the January to March period were Toyota, Skoda and Volkswagen.