South Korea's car production and exports fell in November as a result of the epidemic and strike.

South Korean car production and exports were low in November as local labor conflicts continued and a resurgence of the epidemic held back international deliveries.

South Korean car production fell 6.3 per cent year-on-year to 324472 in November, South Korea's trade, industry and energy ministries said on December 14. Of this total, Kia production decreased by 4505 vehicles compared with the same period last year, while GM South Korea decreased by 15631 vehicles compared with the same period last year, accounting for 92 per cent of the total loss.

In November, South Korea exported 190657 cars, down 10.2 per cent from a year earlier. Although sales in North America were booming that month, the epidemic was still rampant in Europe, the Middle East and other major markets.

South Korean car exports have suffered double-digit declines since April. After a brief recovery in September, exports fell again in October. However, due to strong consumer demand for high value-added products, such as SUV, electric cars and large passenger cars, the total value of exported cars rose 2.1 per cent year-on-year to $4 billion. Specifically, the export volume of electric vehicles has risen for the 40th month in a row, accounting for 45.2% of the total number of clean vehicles and 18.4% of all exported cars. In addition, delivery of auto parts overseas rose 6.5 per cent year-on-year to $1.89 billion.

In terms of domestic sales, domestic car sales in South Korea rose 5.8 per cent month-on-month to 171228 as the tax credit expires at the end of the year. Of this total, 142158 locally branded cars were sold, up 5.8 per cent from a year earlier, while imported cars sold 29070, up 5.6 per cent from a year earlier. South Korea sold 28218 clean cars that month, breaking the all-time monthly sales record and surging market share to 16.5 per cent from 8.7 per cent in the same period last year.