Domestic car sales volume increased by 4.7%… 11.2% reduction in domestic production
Last year, it was found that Korea recaptured the 5th place in the ranking of automobile producers. It has been five years since it ranked fifth in India in 2016.
According to the Korea Automobile Industry Association (KAMA), last year’s global automobile production decreased by 15.5% due to the aftermath of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19).
The top 10 automobile producers were counted in the order of China, the United States, Japan, Germany, Korea, India, Mexico, Spain, Brazil, and Russia. In all of these 10 countries, production decreased by 2% in China, 19% in the US, 16.7% in Japan, and 24.7% in Germany. Korea decreased by 11.2%, but the decline was relatively small, rising from 7th to 5th in 2019.
The sixth place India and Mexico declined 24.9% and 21.2%, respectively, and their rankings were pushed one step further. Spain and Brazil fell 19.6% and 31.6%, respectively, and Russia fell only 15.7%, entering the top 10 for the first time since 2000. France, which ranked 10th in 2019, fell to 13th.
The share of each country in the world’s production has also changed according to the gap in the decrease in production by the top 10 producing countries. China increased by 4.4 percentage points and Korea by 0.2 percentage points.
China recovered from Corona 19 at a rapid pace, with a production decline of only 2%, and its global production share also expanded from 27.8% in 2019 to 32.3% in 2020. Electric-powered vehicle production and sales also increased by 7.5% and 10.9%, respectively, and are also increasing their influence in the future car industry.
In Korea, exports declined 21.4% to 1.89 million units due to the corona 19 export market, but domestic sales increased 4.7% due to strong domestic demand, resulting in a decrease in domestic production of 11.2%. As a result, it recaptured the fifth place in the ranking of producers, while its global production share increased slightly.
KAMA said, “The recapture of Korea’s fifth place was mainly due to production disruptions in India and Mexico due to Corona 19, but it was also caused by labor-management cooperation with Hyundai Motors and the recent rapid change in the structure of the automobile industry focusing on high value added such as SUVs/luxury cars/electric cars.” Analyzed.
KAMA Chairman Man-Ki Chung said, “It is a great achievement that Korea regained the fifth place in the producing country amidst difficulties, but given the changes in conditions such as China’s advancement, it is necessary to further strengthen innovation efforts such as smartization/advancing/electricity.” It is necessary to continuously expand policies to support competitiveness such as drastic regulatory reform and R&D, and accumulate experience in cooperation based on the perception that shareholders/managers/workers are one team.”
“Recently, the labor-management cooperation, such as Hyundai Motor’s two years in a row, has helped not only overcome the Corona 19 crisis, but also improve competitiveness and secure labor stability.” We will have to switch to inputs for production innovation.”
Reporter Kim Seong-gil
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