Five domestic carmakers, including Hyundai, Kia, GM Korea, Renault Samsung and Ssangyong, sold a total of 628,835 vehicles in May, up 37.6 percent from a year earlier.
The number of vehicles sold overseas surged 62.3 percent over the year to 504,690 last month on the back of the low base effect. In May last year, the automotive export tumbled amid the COVID-19 pandemic shock.
The local vehicle sale declined 15.0 percent to 124,145 units in May due to the shortage of chips used for cars that led to the temporary disruption of automotive production in domestic factories.
Hyundai Motor, the country's biggest carmaker, sold 62,056 vehicles at home and 261,073 units abroad in May. The local car sale reduced 12.4 percent, but the overseas sale soared 67.7 percent.
The global car sale by Kia Motors, affiliated with Hyundai, totaled 245,994 vehicles in May. Kia's domestic sale shrank 6.4 percent, but its outbound shipment spiked 74.2 percent.
GM Korea's global car sale contracted 33.7 percent over the year to 16,428 units in May. The domestic and overseas sales by the South Korean unit of the U.S. automaker General Motors plunged 23.3 percent and 37.0 percent respectively.
Renault Samsung saw a 13.3 percent fall in its global car sale last month, but Ssangyong Motor's global automotive sale gained 6.3 percent on solid export.
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