Cars are parked to be exported at a port next to Hyundai Motor's manufacturing facility in Ulsan, Feb. 11. Yonhap
Korea's car exports decreased 19.6 percent in January from a year earlier due to a reduced number of business days from the extended Lunar New Year holiday, data showed Tuesday.
The combined value of vehicle shipments came to $4.99 billion last month, compared with $6.21 billion a year ago, which was the highest figure for any January ever, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
The ministry said the latest figure was also the second highest for any January in history but was lower compared with a year ago due to a base effect and a fewer number of business days from the weeklong holiday.
Renault Korea's one-month suspension of its manufacturing facility in the southeastern city of Busan also affected the exports.
The Korean unit of Renault S.A. halted operations at its Busan plant last month to establish electric vehicle (EV) production infrastructure there.
In detail, the number of cars produced totaled 2.91 million, dropping 18.9 percent on-year in January.
Shipments of hybrid electric vehicles, however, soared 35.5 percent to set a fresh record of 360,000 units.
Domestic automobile sales declined 9 percent to 1.06 million units, with the popularity of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) down and passenger cars, like the Avante and Grandeur, up.
The ministry said the government will closely communicate with the auto industry to help secure the country's competitiveness in the future mobility industry and create new opportunities amid growing uncertainties in global trade with the launch of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration. (Yonhap)
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