In this photo provided by Renault Samsung on Dec. 28, 2020, 750 XM3 SUVs await shipping at its factory in Busan, about 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean automakers’ sales fell 12 percent last month from a year earlier as a prolonged chip shortage disrupted vehicle production and sales, industry data showed Monday.
The country’s five carmakers — Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Corp., GM Korea Co., Renault Samsung Motors Corp. and SsangYong Motor Co. — sold a combined 578,241 vehicles in December, down from 659,268 units a year ago, sales data from the companies showed.
Their domestic sales declined 2.8 percent to 129,392 units from 133,061, while overseas sales dropped 15 percent to 448,849 from 526,207 during the same period, the data showed.
Disrupted vehicle supplies amid chip shortages and the resurgence in COVID-19 cases weighed on the carmakers’ monthly sales results.
Hyundai Motor’s sales fell 11 percent to 334,242 units from 375,193 a year ago. Sales of its smaller affiliate Kia declined 4 percent to 208,965 from 217,751 during the same period.
Hyundai had suspended the Asan plant several times since July due to the chip parts problems, which affected production of the Santa Fe SUV and the Sonata sedan.
Hyundai and Kia aim to sell a combined 7.47 million vehicles this year, up 12 percent from their sales of 6.67 million units last year.
In 2022, the country’s two biggest carmakers said they will focus on securing semiconductor chips for stable vehicle production, reorganizing their vehicle production plans, and strengthening electric vehicle lineups to improve global market shares and profitability.
GM Korea’s automotive factory in Bupyeong, west of Seoul, is seen in this file photo taken Feb. 8, 2021. (Yonhap)
GM Korea and SsangYong Motor also came up with poor on-year sales results last month due to parts shortages and lack of new models.
GM Korea’s sales plunged 71 percent to 13,531 units from 46,717, and SsangYong’s dropped 17 percent to 8,755 from 10,561.
But Renault Samsung’s sales jumped 41 percent to 12,718 autos last month from 9,016 a year ago, helped by increased exports of the XM3 and QM6 SUVs.
For the whole of 2021, the five carmakers’ combined sales rose 2.3 percent to 7.12 million units from 6.94 million a year earlier.
Their domestic sales fell 11 percent to 1.43 million autos from 1.61 million units a year earlier, while their overseas sales rose 6.6 percent to 5.69 million from 5.34 million.
(Yonhap)
