Eco-friendly car exports, including hybrid, electric, and hydrogen vehicles, recorded US$18 billion in the first nine months of this year, outpacing the total eco-friendly car exports of US$16.1 billion in the previous year.
According to a “September 2023 Automotive Industry Trends” report released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy on Oct. 18, automotive exports in the past month reached US$5.23 billion, showing a 9.5 percent increase compared to the same period the previous year.
Cumulative automotive exports until September this year amounted to US$52.08 billion, marking a significant increase of 35.8 percent compared to last year. This sustained growth has continued for 15 consecutive months since July of last year.
The driving force behind the increase in automotive exports has been eco-friendly vehicles. During this period, the exports of eco-friendly cars stood at US$17.99 billion, marking a whopping 57.7 percent increase in just one year.
Particularly, the growth in eco-friendly car exports has been sustained, mainly in North America and the European Union (EU). Last month, exports to North America reached US$2.78 billion, while exports to the EU amounted to US$849 million.
Until the third quarter of this year, there has been growth in both export volume and domestic production and sales. Exports stood at 2,049,998 units, marking a 23.7 percent increase; domestic sales amounted to 1,294,179 units, showing a 5.8 percent rise; and production totaled 3,164,424 units, with a 17.4 percent increase. During the same period, sales of imported cars decreased by 3.5 percent to 206,865 units.
The government has actively responded to the U.S. Incentives for Reduction of Auto Emissions (IRA) Act. As a result of the domestic industry’s efforts to expand the sales of environmentally friendly commercial vehicles such as rentals and leases, the sales of environmentally friendly vehicles subject to the IRA reached a total of 89,000 units by September this year. This marks a 47 percent increase compared to the same period last year and has already surpassed last year’s total sales of 74,000 units. Additionally, the proportion of commercial vehicles in total sales has expanded significantly, increasing from about 5 percent last year to 44 percent in the first nine months of this year, as explained by the Ministry of Industry.