The number of vehicles registered in Turkey reached 159,219 in the first three months of this year, the country's statistics authority said Thursday.

The first quarter figure was down 42.1 percent from the same period last year, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced.

The total number of road motor vehicles registered was around 23 million by the end of March.

Automobiles accounted for the bulk of new registrations - 60 percent (95,583) - a drop of 42.4 percent year-on-year between January and March.

In March, the number of registered motor vehicles also slipped 37.9 percent compared to the same month last year, to 58,7909, TurkStat added.

The breakdown of model brands for new registered cars in the month is as follows: Renault, 16.1 percent; Fiat, 12.3 percent; Volkswagen, 11 percent; Hyundai, 6.5 percent; Honda and Toyota, 6.2 percent apiece; Opel, 5.3 percent; Peugeot, 4.3 percent; Dacia, 4 percent; Mercedes-Benz, 3.7 percent; and other brands accounted for 24.5 percent.