SEJONG: South Korea’s output of automobiles shrank slightly from a year earlier in the first half due to a drop in exports, the government said Monday.
Five automakers in South Korea produced a combined total of 2,321,840 cars in the January-June period, down 0.9 percent from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The drop was attributed to a decrease in exports.
“Despite an increase in exports to North America, the country exported 1,551,982 cars in the first half, down 3 percent from the same period last year, due partly to an economic downturn in newly emerging markets, such as Russia, as well as the weakening of the Japanese yen and the euro that ate into the price competitiveness of local products,” the ministry said in a press release.
In the six-month period, exports to North American countries, including the United States, spiked 17.1 percent on-year while shipments to Eastern European nations plunged 64.9 percent.
Domestic sales of locally produced cars, on the other hand, rose 3.2 percent on-year to 727,155 units while sales of imported vehicles surged 15.2 percent to a new half-year high of 130,014, the ministry said.
