SEJONG: Overseas sales of South Korea-made passenger cars soared 30.1 percent in the third quarter of this year on the back of recovering global demand, customs data showed Thursday.
The total value of passenger car exports reached US$9.4 billion during the July-September period, up from $7.2 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Customs Service (KCS). The third quarter figure marks the second straight quarter of numbers moving up, after a nearly 3 percent drop in the January-March period. Imports also rose 8.3 percent on-year to $2.2 billion over the same period. The number of exported cars jumped 20.9 percent on-year to 622,000 units during the three-month period, while 69,000 units were imported, up 14.5 percent from a year ago. Exports to nearly all regions gained ground, as the world economy is seemingly on an upward cycle. Passenger car exports to France shot up 199.2 percent on-year and those to Italy surged 117.3 percent, while car sales in the United States and Russia vaulted 22.5 percent and 54.9 percent, respectively, over the same period.
