South Korea's auto exports reduce on supply disruption

South Korea's automobile exports reduced last month due to supply disruption in domestic plants and weak demand from East Europe, a government report showed Sunday. Car exports by the country's five automakers, including Hyundai, Kia, GM Korea, Renault Samsung and Ssangyong, declined 7.3 percent from a year earlier to 223,482 units in July, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE). The reduction came after production in some companies stumbled due to partial strikes of laborers and lack of weekend extra work, the ministry said, noting that rising production in overseas plants and uncertainties over the global economy also contributed to the export fall. Demand from East Europe showed an outstanding trend of decline. From January to June, exports to East Europe tumbled 21.9 percent from a year earlier to 118,767 vehicles, the largest decline in terms of region. Domestic car sales, however, increased 5.8 percent on-year to 140,642 units in July thanks to robust demand for luxury foreign brands. Imported car sales surged 38.9 percent from a year earlier to reach a record monthly high of 14,953 units in July due to strong demand for German brands such as BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Audi.