Car Exports Still Remain Sluggish
The domestic sales volumes of the five carmakers in South Korea totaled 138,530 vehicles last month, up 23.3 percent from a year ago.
Hyundai increased its sales volume by 33.8 percent to 67,080 and Kia sold 51,211 cars to show a year-on-year increase of 21.9 percent. The Kia Carnival posted a sales volume of 10,130 in September alone. GM Korea’s domestic sales volume increased 17.9 percent to 6,097 and that of SsangYong rose 13.4 percent to 8,208. On the other hand, that of Renault Samsung fell 24.1 percent to 5,934.
When it comes to exports and sales from local production, Hyundai’s figure fell 11.2 percent year on year to 293,682. The overseas sales of Kia increased 7.7 percent to 208,812, led by its manufacturing facilities in India whose capacity utilization has been raised since late last year.
Renault Samsung’s exports plunged 80.4 percent year on year to 1,452. Likewise, SsangYong’s exports dropped 46.7 percent to 1,626. GM Korea’s exports jumped 112.3 percent to 34,447 after the GM HQ assigned the production of the Chevrolet Trailblazer. GM Korea exported 20,053 units of Chevrolet Trailblazer and Buick Encore GX last month.