South Korea’s car makers’ combined sales down in January

The combined sales in January of South Korea’s five car makers was down 1.7% from a year ago due to less working days because of the Lunar New Year and lower seasonal demand. Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp., GM Korea Co., SsangYong Motor Co. and Renault Samsung Motors Co. sold a total of 617,506 vehicles compared to 627,906 vehicles a year ago. Domestic sales also went down by 20% from 120,577 units last year to 96,448 units in January. The Lunar New Year in 2011 was celebrated in February. Exports in January rose 2.7% from 507,328 units in the same month last year to 521,058 units. Hyundai and its affiliate, Kia Motors, plan to offset low domestic sales by increasing overseas sales of their higher-priced models and less-discounted models. (February 1, 2012)