Sales of eco-friendly cars surpassed 100,000 units in the first quarter in South Korea on booming demand for hybrid vehicles, industry data showed Sunday.

A total of 101,727 environmentally friendly cars made by five South Korean carmakers, including Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp., were sold during the January-March period, up 8.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data.

Out of this total, 85,828 units, or 84.4 percent, were hybrid cars, soaring 42.4 percent from the same period last year.

Sales of electric vehicles, meanwhile, plunged 51.4 percent on-year to 15,237 units in the first quarter.

By model, Kia's Sorento Hybrid was the best-selling model in the first quarter with 19,729 units sold, followed by Hyundai's Santa Fe Hybrid with 15,981 units and Kia's Carnival Hybrid with 12,203 units. (Yonhap)