In October this year, South Korea's total car output amounted to 396,677 units, rising 15.5 percent compared to September and down 4.3 percent year on year, according to a report released by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA). October is the sixth consecutive month in which the country's car
production recorded a year-on-year decline. The report says that the decrease was due to reduced volumes caused by extension work at factories of some producers and by sluggish exports. On the other hand, South Korea's car output in the first 10 months of the year saw a year-on-year decrease of 2.4 percent to 3,712,513 units.
Despite the unstable global economy and shrunk consumer sentiment, sales of South Korean cars in the domestic market in October this year rose 2.3 percent year on year to 124,751 units, affected by tax reduction coupled with the introduction of two new models. In the first 10 months of this year, sales of domestic
production cars in South Korea fell by 6.8 percent year on year to 1,144,552 units.
Meanwhile, sales of imported cars continued their growth in October, rising by 46 percent year on year to 12,019 units. On the other hand, expanding uncertainty over the global economy, the contraction of the EU market and supply shortage drove outbound car shipments in October down 6.3 percent year on year to 258,361 vehicles. South Korean car exports in the first 10 months of the year rose by 1.9 percent compared to the same period of 2011, totaling 2,597,029.