South Korea’s auto exports rise 3.8%

South Korea’s auto exports rose 3.8% to $37 billion in the first half of this year, thanks to an increase in exports to the United States, data released Sunday showed. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea International Trade Association said the level was the highest for South Korea’s auto exports in the first half of any year, higher than the record of $35.65 billion in the first half of last year.

Since 2021, South Korea’s automobile exports have recorded year-on-year growth in the first half of the year.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the achievement was mainly due to the continued growth in exports of high-value-added vehicles such as environmentally friendly cars, including electric and hybrid vehicles, to North America and Europe.

Data shows that in the first six months of this year, my country’s automobile exports to the United States increased by 29.8% year-on-year to US$18.45 billion, accounting for 49.9% of the total automobile exports in the same period, an increase of 8.5 percentage points over the same period last year. Last year it was 41.4%.

In contrast, automobile exports to the EU, the Middle East, and Central and South America fell by 30%, 18.7%, and 8.3%, respectively, to US$3.94 billion, US$2.29 billion, and US$1.21 billion.

At the same time, exports of hybrid vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles increased by 19.5% and 7.2% year-on-year in the first six months, while exports of electric vehicles fell by 17.5% during the same period.