ZAGREB, 20 Jan 2022 - Vehicles in Croatia are on average 14.34 years old and last year 19.74% did not pass a technical inspection at first go, the Center for Vehicles of Croatia said on Thursday.

In 2020, the average age of vehicles was 14.18 years.

Of 2,271,201 vehicles inspected last year, 448,386 were faulty, with an average of 5.14 faults detected per faulty vehicle.

Most of the faults were detected in lighting and light-signaling devices (560,000) and braking devices (537,000).

As in past years, more than 65,000 vehicles did not pass an eco test and more than 45,000 errors were found in control and signaling devices.

Last year saw an increase in hybrid and electric vehicles, with 15,918 hybrids, up from 8,080 in 2020, and 3,054 electric vehicles, up from 1,343 in 2020.

Last year the average distance traveled by vehicles in Croatia was 10,016 km, down from 12,542 km in 2019.

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ZAGREB, 5 Nov 2021 - In the first ten months of this year, 40,245 new passenger vehicles were sold, up 28.4% on the year, whereas in October alone 2,853 cars were sold, down 7.8% on the year, the Promocija Plus market research agency said on Friday.

The most popular brand this year to date has been the Opel Corsa, with 1,796 cars sold, followed by the Škoda Octavia (1,614), Dacia Duster (1,377), Volkswagen T-Cross (1,360), Dacia Sandero (1,085), and the Volkswagen T-Roc (1,015).

In that period petrol cars were bought by 21,772 people (54.1% of all sales), diesel cars by 9,841 (24.5%), hybrids by 6,071 (15.1%) liquefied petroleum gas cars by 1,617 (4%) and electric vehicles by 944 buyers (2.3%).

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June 1, 2021 – Investments in the yearly maintenance of Croatian motorways are sizeable, but justified when compared to the revenue generated, particularly during the summer season.

Croatian motorways are a crucial part of Croatia’s tourism infrastructure. They are also a very important factor in connecting various regions of the country. The topography of Croatia often makes local roads inefficient. Year after year majority of guests coming to Croatia with cars have very positive comments on the motorway system. However, the entire thing doesn’t come cheap.

With the constant need for maintenance and updating, Hrvatske Autoceste (Croatian Motorways Ltd - HAC) is hard at work every year to prepare the infrastructure for the summer season. The surge of cars on Croatian roads will once again happen in a year, starting in June. Index.hr reports Croatian Motorways Ltd invested 404.9 million kn (around 54 million EUR) into this year’s maintenance and upgrading of the motorway system. Much of this money has been invested in rest stops along the motorways. This is one part of the investment travellers to Croatia will immediately feel. Upgrades made in rest stops are mostly in interiors, bathrooms, and operational technology. HAC also notes the emergency services are going to be reinforced.

New and Updated Services

Along with the standard 24/7 road assistance patrolling the motorways, additional contractors will provide more complex roadside and system maintenance services. Teams of emergency medical services and over thirty vehicles with automatic defibrillators will be on hand as well. Much like the majority of other businesses, HAC expects higher revenues in 2021 than the previous year. In 2020 the numbers were very low due to COVID19 pandemic restrictions. Because of this, HAC started this year with around a hundred employees less than 2020. Estimated revenue from motorway tolls in Croatia this year is 2,18 billion kn (around 290 million EUR).

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