The Estonian Association of Car Dealers and Services (AMTEL) said that sales of new cars hit the pre-coronavirus level in December, while annual sales still fell well short of the 2019 result.

Dealerships moved 1,813 new cars in the last month of 2023, up a whopping 58.43 percent from the year before. In all, dealerships handed over 22,820 new cars for an annual increase of 11.7 percent, while 26,589 cars were sold in 2019.

Electric vehicles made up 6.3 percent of all new cars sold in 2023. Hybrid vehicles accounted for 42.2 percent, followed by gas-powered cars at 38.8 percent and diesel cars at 12.4 percent.

Medium-size SUVs and C-segment cars were the most popular, accounting for 31.2 and 20.6 percent of sales respectively.

AMTEL executive manager Meelis Telliskivi said that growth of 11.7 percent suggests the 2022 supply crisis has been overcome.

"It is nice to see sales of hybrid vehicles growing and coming to 34.2 percent since the year before last. But a slump in commercial vehicle sales reflects the overall situation in the transport sector and the economy in general. The sales of M3 category buses (those with more than eight seats and weighing over five metric tons) and vans weighing up to 3.5 metric tons were down compared to 2022."

Toyota was the best-selling carmaker in Estonia in 2023, shifting 4,208 cars, with Skoda (3,345) and Audi (2,532) in tow.

The most popular models were the Toyota RAV4 (1,311) and Toyota Corolla (1,150), followed by the Skoda Octavia in third (1,047).

The sales of commercial vehicles shrank by 0.6 percent in 2023 year over year. Toyota sold 1,000 such vehicles, while Renault shifted 733 and Peugeot 490.

Scania and Volvo were the most successful in the field of heavy trucks, selling 354 and 245 vehicles respectively.

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