[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s exports of eco-friendly cars soared during the fourth quarter of last year on the back of rising demand, customs data showed on Feb. 28.
Outbound shipments of eco-friendly autos such as electric vehicles reached US$940 million during the October-December period, accounting for 10.3 percent of total auto exports, according to the data by the Korea Customs Service.
The fourth quarter reading marks a 2.5 percent rise from the first quarter, the data showed.
During the cited period, imports of such vehicles hit US$300 million, which is equal to 10.1 percent of the country‘s total auto imports. The reading is also 4.6 percentage points higher than the January-March period of 2017, the data showed.
Exports of eco-friendly autos to North America and Europe remained strong as those regions have well-built charging infrastructure, according to the data.
In January alone, exports of eco-friendly autos reached US$290 million, while imports were tallied at US$310 million.
By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (
ssh@heraldcorp.com)