Automobile production/domestic/export, triple increase for 2 consecutive months

The Korean automobile industry recorded a double-digit increase for two consecutive months in all fields, including production, domestic demand, and export.

According to the’Monthly Trend of the Automobile Industry in February’ released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 15th, automobile production increased 37.9%, domestic demand 24.2%, and exports 35.0% compared to the same period last year.

Production, domestic demand, and exports all grew by double digits for the second consecutive month following last January. In addition, this triple increase for two consecutive months is the first since August-September 2017.

Exports were largely influenced by strong sales in the global automobile market and exports of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and electric vehicles. The size of the vehicles exported in February reached 16,1886 units. The export amount increased by 47.0% to $3.53 billion.

In particular, exports of small SUV models such as Kona, Trail Blazer, and Sportage continued to be strong last month, and exports of mid- to large-sized vehicle models such as Sonata (120%), K5 (448%), and Stinger (243%) surged, leading to the expansion of exports.

In the case of eco-friendly cars, exports of 22,4932 units increased by 70.9%, and the export amount increased by 102.6% to reach 700 million dollars. Both the number and amount of exports were the highest in February.

The proportion of eco-friendly car exports was 16.0% of the total number of passenger car exports, up 3.5 percentage points from the same period last year.

Production increased 37.9% to 260,958 units in the same month last year due to the base effect caused by the disruption in parts supply and the expansion of exports. In February of last year, production of about 9,000 units was disrupted when a Chinese company stopped producing the wiring harness (wire bundle), which is a key component of an automobile.

Domestic sales declined in the number of business days, but 12,3,317 units were sold, up 24.2% due to continued robust trend of new cars (Carnival, GV70, Tucson, etc.).

Exports of automobile parts also showed good performance in February. Exports rose 8.9% to $1.96 billion due to continued preference for domestic finished cars and the recovery of the export economy in the global market. This is an increase for the fourth consecutive month. This is the first time in 30 months since April-August 2018 that exports have increased for more than 4 months.