The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on November 18 that automobile output, domestic sales, and exports decreased 21.6 percent, 21.4 percent, and 18.1 percent, respectively, for the month of October.
Despite the expectation that the global automotive chip shortage would ease in the third quarter, the supply from Southeast Asia was delayed, leading to cuts in production and exports.
The number of vehicles produced by Korean carmakers in October lost 21.6 percent to 263,723 units. GM Korea and SsangYong Motor closed down temporarily due to the extended chip shortage.
Domestic sales fell 21.1 percent to 125,296 units due to delayed shipment caused by chip shortages. Both locally produced cars (down 21.5 percent) and imported cars (down 23.5 percent to 19,033 units) saw declines.
Meanwhile, green car sales in Korea jumped 61.4 percent to 34,137 units. This accounted for 27.2 percent of total domestic sales, setting a fresh high. All vehicle types showed growth. Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) increased 27.9 percent to 20,413 units, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) climbed up 93.3 percent to 1,850 units, electric vehicles (EVs) soared 204.1 percent to 10,934 units, and fuel-cell hybrid vehicles (FCEVs) expanded 46.9 percent to 940 units.
Outbound shipments of automobiles in October went down 18.1 percent to 159,520 units. The contraction is mainly attributable to the chip shortages.
However, green car exports improved 32.9 percent to 38,538 units and the export value increased 41.8 percent to $1.1 billion, both at record highs. Shipments of all eco-friendly car types expanded. HEVs (up 29.1 percent to 17,993 units), PHEVs (up 97.7 percent to 3,774 units), EVs (up 27.4 percent to 16,718 units), and FCEVs (up 55.9 percent to 53 units) all contributed to the growth.
Auto part exports edged down 1.2 percent to $1.8 billion as the operation rates at overseas plants have yet to return to full capacity amid chip shortages.
Source: Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy