SEOUL, August 1(ABC): South Korea’s global automotive sale marked the first rebound in five months last month due to the improved supply of semiconductors used to make cars, industry data showed on Monday.
Five domestic automakers, Hyundai, Kia, GM Korea, Renault Samsung and Ssangyong, sold 637,393 units in the global market in July, up 7.2 percent from a year earlier. Local automotive sale shrank 1.1 percent to 122,134 vehicles, but the sale outside South Korea increased 9.4 percent to 515,259 units.
It came as the supply disruptions of chips used to manufacturer vehicles were eased, meeting higher global demand for cars. The domestic car sale by Hyundai Motor, the country’s biggest car-maker, reduced 5.9 percent from a year earlier to 56,305 units in July, but its overseas sale climbed 6.3 percent to 269,694 units.
Kia Motors, affiliated with Hyundai, globally sold 257,903 vehicles in July, up 6.3 percent from a year ago. GM Korea’s global automotive sale surged 35.7 percent to 26,066 units last month, and those for Renault Samsung and Ssangyong advanced in double digits to 16,673 units and 10,752 units respectively.
