Korea’s Kia ranked first in terms of new-cars registration during the first three months of 2012 with a total of 2,151 cars, according to data compiled by the Association of Car Importers in Lebanon. The figure was up by 27.1 percent from a total of 1,692 during the same period of last year. Kia was followed by Korea’s Hyundai with 1,191 newly registered cars in the first quarter, rising by 11.3 percent year-on-year from 1,070 in the same period of last year. Japan’s Nissan came third with a total of 1,142 newly registered cars in the first quarter of 2012, 25.8 percent higher than the total of 908 cars registered a year earlier. Fourth was Japan’s Toyota with a total of 390 newly registered cars in the aforementioned period of this year, up by 21.9 percent annually from 320 cars registered in the same period of last year. American Chevrolet ranked fifth with a total of 386 newly registered cars in the first quarter of this year, up by a yearly 47.3 percent from a total of 262 recorded in the same period of last year. Overall, the number of newly registered cars stood at 7,392 in the first three months of 2012, up by 14 percent from 6,483 a year earlier. During March 2012, newly registered cars totaled 2,925, up by 8.9 percent from 2,687 seen in March 2011.