Top Korean car manufacturers reported a combined decrease of 0.2pc in July sales at 590,566 units from a year ago. The total sales include Hyundai Motor Co, Kia Corp, GM Korea Co, Renault Samsung Motors Corp, and SsangYong Motor Co.
Domestic sales have dropped by 14pc to 123,512 units in July compared to a year ago. Overseas sales rose by 4.5pc in July to 466,191 units from the same year-ago period.
Hyundai’s sales in Korea decreased by 22.6pc to 59,856 units owing to a shortage of semiconductors. July sales are down compared to a sharp increase reported in the previous year’s month. The company expects year-on-year sales to slow down for the rest of the year following a resurgence of COVID-19 and an unstable supply of semiconductors.
Hyundai’s overseas sales increased by 4.2pc to 250,045 units from a year ago but fell 13.2pc from a month ago. Global sales dipped 2.4pc to 309,901 units in July.
Kia’s Korean sales rose by 2.4pc to 48,160 units in July from a year ago. Kia’s sales outside Korea rose 10.4pc to 193,239 units in July from a year ago. Kia’s global sales rose by 8.7pc to 241,399 units in July.
SsangYong’s domestic sales slipped 16pc to 5,652 units in July from a year ago and Renault Samsung’s sales fell by 21pc to 4,958 units.
GM Korea’s sales fell by 30pc to 4,886 units while exports fell by 48pc to 14,329 units in July.