Seoul, May 1 (IANS): South Korean exports of environment friendly vehicles fell for the first time in the first quarter after reporting on-year increases in the past 12 quarters, an industry association said on Wednesday.

Shipments of eco-friendly vehicles fell 5.6 percent on-year to 178,003 units in the January-March quarter from 188,607 units in the same period of last year, according to the Korea Automobile & Mobility Association (KAMA).

Eco-friendly cars include gasoline hybrid, battery electric, plug-in hybrid, and hydrogen fuel-cell electric models, reports Yonhap news agency.

Exports of gasoline hybrid models rose 5.5 per cent to 84,040 units in the first quarter from 79,624 a year ago, while combined shipments of three other models declined 14 percent to 93,963 from 108,983 during the same period.

Global EV demand is expected to remain sluggish for the time being due mainly to potential fire risks and lack of charging infrastructure.

Given battery electric vehicles account for a large portion of the country's eco-friendly vehicle shipments, its overall eco-friendly car exports will likely fall further for the rest of the year, industry officials said.

Market tracker SNE Research projected the global EV registrations will fall 19 per cent on-year to 16.75 million units this year.