Despite COVID-19, Car 'Triple Increase'... Production Up 6.8%, Domestic Sales Up 10%, Exports Up 1.3%

Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Announces 'March Monthly Trends in the Automobile Industry'

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Last month, domestic automobile production, domestic sales, and exports all increased. Despite the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), it is analyzed that the effects of the individual consumption tax reduction policy and new car sales contributed to this growth.

According to the "March Monthly Automobile Industry Trends" announced by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 12th, automobile production last month recorded 369,165 units, an increase of 6.8% compared to the same month last year.

The increase in automobile production was influenced by ▲ strong sales of the latest models such as the GV80 and XM3, ▲ new car effects from models like the G80 and Avante, and ▲ an increase of 2 working days.

Automobile sales (domestic) were recorded at 172,956 units, up 10.1% from the same month last year. This is attributed to the government's individual consumption tax reduction effect, special discount events by some companies, and an increase in business days.

For domestic cars, 149,912 units were sold, an increase of 9.3% compared to the previous year. The Trailblazer and XM3 recorded sales of 3,187 units and 5,581 units respectively, increasing by 424% and 9,691% compared to the previous month. Existing models such as the Grandeur and K7 sold 16,600 units and 5,045 units respectively, up 57.6% and 90.2% compared to March last year.

Imported cars sold 23,044 units, up 15.3% from the same month last year. Sales of Japanese brands were sluggish (-67.8%), but German brands such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW showed a recovery trend with a 55.9% increase compared to the same month last year.

Automobile exports increased by 1.3% year-on-year to 210,900 units, and export value rose by 3.0% to 3.82 billion dollars. High value-added vehicles such as SUVs and eco-friendly cars led the exports. In terms of export share, SUVs accounted for 65.8%, up 6.8 percentage points from last year, and eco-friendly cars accounted for 12.4%, up 3.2 percentage points.

In particular, SUVs exported 138,837 units, an increase of 13.2% from last year, achieving the second highest export volume ever since December 2016 (139,185 units).

Meanwhile, automobile parts exports in March recorded 1.94 billion dollars, up 0.5%, driven by strong North American SUV sales.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.