Robot arms assemble cars at the Avto ZAZ plant, major Ukrainian car maker, in Zaporizhzhya, 500 km (311 miles) southeast of the capital Kiev, August 7, 2013. (Reuters Photo)

KIEV, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- A total of 82,200 passenger cars were sold in Ukraine last year, the highest number since 2014, the Ukravtoprom Analysis Group said in a report Tuesday.

Compared with 2016, the sales rose 25.3 percent, driven by the increased economic activity and improved well-being of people.

Japan's Toyota was the most popular brand last year, taking a market share of 11.7 percent, followed by France's Renault and Germany's Volkswagen with 10.5 percent and 7.8 percent respectively, it said.

Despite the strong performance last year, the Ukrainian car market has not fully recovered from the recession that started in early 2014.

The 2017 sales accounted for less than 40 percent of the pre-crisis 2013, when about 213,300 new cars were sold.