In March this year, South Korea's total car output amounted to 420,759 units, up by 6.3 percent year on year, marking a historic record for March volumes, according to a report released by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA). The report says that the increase was due to the high growth rate of exports. On the other hand, the country's auto production during the first quarter of the current year climbed 8.7 percent year on year to 1,175,279 units.
Despite the individual consumer tax cut along with the South Korea-US free trade agreement (FTA), South Korean domestic car demand in March this year fell by 9.9 percent year on year, totaling 120,862 units, owing to contracted consumer sentiment influenced by global economic uncertainity, high oil prices and household debt coupled with the potential demand for the upcoming new Hyundai Santa Fe model. In the first quarter of this year, domestic car demand in South Korea fell by 8.7 percent year on year to 331,353 units.
The association also announced that in March this year South Korean car exports hit an all-time high increasing by 18.1 percent year on year to 305,257 units, due to the Korea-US FTA which followed the Korea-EU FTA. South Korean car exports in the first quarter rose by 20.3 percent compared to the same period of 2011, totaling 851,571.