South Korean automakers saw their global car sales rise 6.4 percent in May from a year earlier due to strong demand both at home and abroad, industry data showed on Wednesday. Global car sales by five carmakers, including Hyundai, Kia, GM Korea, Renault Samsung and Ssangyong, reached 761,981 units in May, up 6.4 percent from a year earlier.
Domestic sales surged 20.0 percent from a year earlier to 145, 815 units in May thanks to an individual tax cut for cars, while exports gained 3.6 percent to 616,166 units.
Top automaker Hyundai sold 60,827 vehicles at home and 368,253 units in overseas markets in May, up 10.6 percent and 10.4 percent respectively. The combined sales were up over 10 percent compared with a year ago. The No.2 carmaker Kia Motors sold 47,614 units domestically and 195,985 vehicles abroad. The combined figure was up 0.6 percent from a year earlier.
Renault Samsung's domestic car sales surged 68.2 percent from a year earlier to 7,901 units in May, while exporting a total of 13, 109 vehicles. Ssangyong's global car sales increased 11.5 percent to 13,282 units last month, but global sales by GM Korea reduced 5.1 percent to 51,907 units.
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