Auto Sales Fall 10.5% on Year in Aug.
South Korean automakers’ sales volumes totaled 573,279 cars last month, down 10.5 percent from a year ago. Previously, their year-on-year decline amounted to 48.4 percent in April in the wake of COVID-19 and it decreased to 9.1 percent in July. Last month, their domestic and overseas sales volumes fell 5.6 percent year on year to 111,847 and fell 11.2 percent year on year to 461,432, respectively.
The domestic sales remained sluggish in both July and August. Renault Samsung Motors’ domestic sales volume reached 6,104 with a year-on-year decrease of 21.5 percent and that of Kia Motors fell 11.3 percent to 38,463.
On the other hand, the overseas sales volume showed some recovery in about six months. GM Korea exported 21,849 cars last month, up 20.7 percent from a year earlier. When it comes to Hyundai, Kia and SsangYong, the volumes increased 2 percent to 63 percent compared to the previous month although those decreased compared to the same month of the previous year. The three companies’ overseas sales volumes continued to fall from the previous month in the first six months of this year.