Korea's car shipments dip over 20% on year in Oct amid chip shortage

Auto shipments of five Korea-based car manufacturers fell more than 20 percent on year last month, extending losing streak for the fourth straight month due to global chip shortages.

The five automakers – Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Corp., GM Korea Co., Renault Samsung Motors Co., and SsangYong Motor Co. – sold a combined 577,528 vehicles in October, down 21 percent from a year ago, according to their respective data on Monday.

Sales at home dropped 21.5 percent on year to 106,424 units, mired in contraction for eight months in a row, while outbound shipments declined 20.9 percent to 471,104 units.

Korean finished car makers saw their shipments plunge at home and abroad, except for Renault Samsung Motors that reported a sales growth of more than 50 percent on year thanks to brisk exports of the XM3 crossover utility vehicle.

The country’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor delivered total 307,039 units in October, down 20.7 percent from a year earlier. Domestic sales fell 12 percent to 57,813 units, and overseas sales tumbled 22.5 percent to 249,226 units.

The Grandeur sold 9,448 units, becoming the best-selling model of the brand after yielding the title four months ago. The Sonata sold the second-largest 6,136 units, and The G80 of luxury marque Genesis the third-largest 6,119 units.

Its eco-friendly vehicle sales at home jumped 50.5 percent on year to 13,354 units. Its cumulative sales from January to October totaled 96,542 units, gaining 38.2 percent from a year-ago period.

Kia sold total 217,872 units last month, falling 18.9 percent from the previous year. Domestic sales slid 21.2 percent to 37,837 units, while outbound shipments sank 18.4 percent to 180,035 units.

Sportage sport utility vehicle became its best-selling model after selling 30,174 units at home and abroad, followed by the Seltos with sales of 27,468 units and the K3 with 16,627 units. In Korea, the Sorento sold the most 5,363 units, pushing up the sales of recreational vehicles to 20,811 units.

GM Korea under U.S. automaker General Motors shipped 6,875 vehicles, losing 78.1 percent on year, as its outbound shipments plummeted 82 percent to 4,382 units. Sales at home also slipped 64.7 percent to 2,493 units.

Chevrolet Spark sales totaled 1,047 units in Korea, the largest among its models. Sales of Chevrolet Traverse increased 3 percent to 310 units.

Renault Samsung Motors, the South Korean operation of French carmaker Renault S.A., sold 5,002 units, down 30 percent. Its outbound shipments however surged 1,590.1 percent to 6,625 units, ㅣled by XM3.

The company sold 792 units of the XM3 crossover utility vehicle in Korea and shipped out 4,819 units to overseas on the back of stable parts supply from the headquarters despite global short shortage. It now expects production from the Busan plant will soon be normalized within the month.

SsangYong Motor under court management said its vehicle sales fell 53.1 percent to 4,779 units last month. It sold 3,279 units at home, down 56.9 percent on year. Overseas sales retreated 42 percent to 1,500 units.

The New Rexton Sports series have earned warm response from consumers at home and abroad, but delivery of 12,000 units has been disrupted due to the ongoing ship chip shortages.

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