Seoul:South Korea's automotive exports experienced a decline in September, primarily due to reduced demand from Asia and the Middle East, as revealed by industry ministry data.

According to Namibia Press Agency, the country's outbound car shipments decreased by 5.5 percent compared to the previous year, totaling 6.05 billion U.S. dollars last month. Despite this overall downturn, shipments to key markets showed an increase, with exports to North America rising by 9.2 percent to 3.07 billion dollars, and to the European Union (EU) increasing by 15.3 percent to 1.11 billion dollars.

The decline in exports was significantly influenced by a 60 percent drop in shipments to Asia, amounting to 329 million dollars, and a 7.1 percent decrease in exports to the Middle East, totaling 354 million dollars. However, eco-friendly vehicles demonstrated resilience, with their exports growing by 5.9 percent to 2.89 billion dollars. These vehicles include electric vehicles, fuel cell electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

In terms of volume, the number of exported vehicles reached 237,443 in September, marking a 4.1 percent increase from the same month last year. Conversely, auto parts shipments saw a decline of 7.2 percent, totaling 1.77 billion dollars.

The production of vehicles in local factories rose by 3.7 percent to 346,618 units during the month. This increase was driven by local carmakers enhancing their operations to compensate for previous production losses following the conclusion of annual wage negotiations.

Domestically, the number of cars sold, which includes both locally-made and imported vehicles, fell to 135,396 in September, representing a 14.3 percent decline from the previous year. This decrease was attributed to a reduction in working days as the Chuseok holiday, South Korea's version of Thanksgiving Day, was observed in September this year, unlike October last year.