South Korea: Auto production, sales up m-o-m in Mar'24

South Korean automakers produced 365,497 units of vehicles in March 2024, which reflects 22% m-o-m rise against the previous month. However, the same declined by 11% y-o-y compared to March 2023. Moreover, the sales volume is up by 26% m-o-m to 395,737 units in March 2024 as compared to a month ago. Compared to the same month last year, sales volume decreased by nearly 8% y-o-y.

Weakening demand, exports hinder performance

The decline in domestic demand and exports due to the sluggish economy and lack of working days affected performance compared to the same month last year. Domestic demand in March fell by 12% y-o-y. This decline is attributed to weaking consumer sentiments and less working days compared to last year and also sluggish recovery in the electric vehicles market.

Exports of finished cars continued for two consecutive months, reaching $6.17 billion in March. This represents a 5% y-o-y decrease from March 2023, primarily caused by a high export performance in the previous year. However, exports to North America, the largest market, remained strong.

Performance of major auto makers

Hyundai Motor Company: Hyundai's domestic car sales fell 16% y-o-y in March 2024 compared to last year. This drop is due to fewer business days, slow electric vehicle sales, and a tough comparison to the record sales of new models like the Grandeur and Kona in March 2023. The cars sold domestically were around 620,504 units.

However, exports rose 4% y-o-y in March 2024 compared to last year. This is likely due to factories running normally again and strong sales of popular models like the Avante, Sonata, Kona, and SUVs like the Ioniq 5, Palisade, and Tucson. Hyundai exported a total of 102,926 units in March 2024.

Kia Motor Company: Kia Motors' domestically in March saw increased production and sales, particularly for established models. However, despite this positive trend, overall sales fell short of the previous year's performance due to fewer business days in March 2024 compared to March 2023 and the high sales figures from March 2023. As a result, domestic sales for Kia Motors in March 2024 declined by 7.6% y-o-y to 490,112 units.

However, March's exports fell 14.4% y-o-y to 91,036 units. This decline is due to fewer factory operating days compared to March 2023 and a high base effect from last year's record performance of 106,321 units.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with an article exchange agreement between Steel Daily and BigMint.