New Monthly High
The Korean automobile industry saw a new high in export volume after just two months. Exports of eco-friendly cars crossed US$2 billion for the first time. Its total car and parts exports topped US$7.6 billion, rising to the No. 1 spot among Korea’s export items.
According to the automobile industry report for February announced by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on March 20, the amount of automobile exports last month increased by 47.1 percent from February 2022 to $5.6 billion, the highest monthly record. This represented an increase of 12.3 percent compared to the previous month.
In February, Korea’s exports of eco-friendly vehicles such as electric and hybrid vehicles, which have high unit prices, increased in line with a rise in Korea’s total automobile exports, breaking the previous record (5.42 billion dollars) set in December last year after just two months.
The number of Korea’s car exports totaled 222,294 units, up 34.8 percent from the same month of 2022. The figure is the highest in 45 months since May 2019 (225,000 units).
Combining Korea’s automobile and parts exports (US$2.016 billion) in February, the figure stands at US$7.613 billion, accounting for 15.2 percent of Korea’s total February exports. It ranks first among Korea’s export items.
By brand, exports of Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp. increased by 26.6 percent and 57.9 percent, respectively. GM Korea and SsangYong Motor both showed double-digit growth, up 22.6 percent and 43.9 percent, respectively. On the other hand, Renault Korea’s exports shrank by 36.7 percent compared to last year due to poor exports of its main model, the XM3. The top five export models in February were the TrailBlazer (GM Korea), Avante (Hyundai Motor), Kona (Hyundai Motor), Morning (Kia Corp.), and Niro (Kia).
Last month, Korea’s eco-friendly car exports increased by 83.4 percent compared to February 2022 to US$2.02 billion, and Korea’s car exports by 61.6 percent to 63,000 units. Both were all-time monthly highs.
Korea’s exports of eco-friendly cars had increased for six consecutive months since August last year. In February, Korea’s eco-friendly vehicle exports crossed the US$2 billion mark for the first time, accounting for 36.1 percent of Korea’s total vehicle exports.
Exports of all kinds of eco-friendly vehicles increased from 2022, exceeding 60,000 units for the first time ever. Korea exported 26,033 units of hybrid cars, up 48.8 percent, and 30,843 units of electric cars, up 76.6 percent from the same month of 2022. Exports of plugin hybrid vehicles reached 5,945 units (an increase of 51.0 percent), and exports of hydrogen vehicles 40 units (1900.0 percent).
Korea’s overall automobile production, including exports and domestic sales in February, hit 343,575 units, up 30.2 percent from the same month of 2022 due to the easing of a shortage of automotive semiconductors.
Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp. scaled up their car production by 27.8 percent and 38.4 percent, respectively, as production of cars including the new Grandeur increased overall. GM Korea’s production of the new Trax and SsangYong Motor’s production of the Torres swelled by 19.0 percent and 31.4 percent, respectively. Renault Korea’s car production also grew by 3.7 percent thanks to increased QM6 production.
Last month, domestic sales of automobiles in Korea jumped by 19.6 percent to 147,031 units as production increased based on standby demand. Among them, eco-friendly car sales inflated by 32.1 percent to 44,620 units.
Hybrid cars sold 25,306 units, up 35.3 percent. Electric cars sold 17,824 units, up 35.6 percent. The Korean car market recorded sales of 606 plug-in hybrid cars (-51.8 percent) and 884 hydrogen cars (33.7 percent).