In November this year, South Korea's total car output amounted to 444,049 units, up 3.7 percent year on year, following six successive months of year-on-year decrease and posting the highest performance for any month so far this year, according to a report released by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA). On the other hand, South Korea's car output in the first 11 months of the year saw a year-on-year decrease of 1.8 percent to 4,156,318 units.
Despite the impact of the broader slowdown in Europe, vehicle exports declined only slightly from a year earlier thanks to solid demand from the North American market and a steady recovery in car production. The number of cars sold in the domestic market rose 13.9 percent to 142,447 vehicles on the back of temporary tax cuts on automobile purchases. In the first 11 months of this year, sales of domestic production cars in South Korea fell by 3.3 percent year on year to 1,394,724 units.
Meanwhile, sales of imported cars continued their growth in November, rising by 35 percent year on year to 12,470 units. On the other hand, outbound car shipments in November fell slightly by 0.6 percent year on year to 299,638 vehicles. South Korean car exports in the first 11 months of the year rose by 1.6 percent compared to the same period of 2011, totaling 2,895,636.