SEOUL, Jun 20 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea’s automotive export rose for the second consecutive month, due to robust global demand for eco-friendly vehicles, government data showed, today.
Car shipment grew 4.8 percent from a year earlier to 6.49 billion U.S. dollars in May after expanding in double digits in the previous month, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
For the first five months of this year, the automotive shipment reached 30.81 billion dollars, up 4.7 percent compared to the same period of last year.
The number of exported vehicles was 254,496 in May, up 2.9 percent from a year earlier.
Export for eco-friendly cars gained 3.7 percent to 2.18 billion dollars last month, after hitting a record monthly high of 2.29 billion dollars in the prior month.
Car export to North America surged 36.3 percent to 3.96 billion dollars, but those to the European Union, Asia, the Middle East and Africa all diminished in double figures.
Auto parts shipment shrank 5.3 percent to 1.84 billion dollars in May on a yearly basis.
The number of vehicles, manufactured in local factories, declined 2.4 percent to 372,810 last month.
The number of cars sold domestically, including locally-made and imported vehicles, came to 141,313 in May, down 7.1 percent from a year earlier.– NNN-YONHAP
