SEOUL, June 11 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea’s automotive export, more than halved last month, as the COVID-19 outbreak weakened global demand, a government report showed today.
The number of vehicles exported was 95,400 in May, down 57.6 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
It was the first time in almost 17 years since July, 2003, that the number of car export fell below 100,000.
Global car demand tumbled as the virus pandemic roiled the world economy. People refrained from outside activity, weakening private consumption across the globe.
Electric vehicle shipment posted a record monthly high of 11,496 units in May, continuing to rise for 34 months in a row.
In the domestic market, the number of vehicles sold was 168,778 in May, up 9.7 percent from a year earlier.
The local car sale kept an upward trend for the third consecutive month on the back of a temporary tax cut for the car purchase and the special discount event by local automakers.
Auto production plunged 36.9 percent over the year to 231,099 units in May.
Auto parts export dropped 66.7 percent from a year earlier to 650 million U.S. dollars last month.
