[THE INVESTOR] Overseas sales of Korea-made passenger cars plunged sharply in the first quarter of 2018 from a year earlier due to a slump in shipments to major markets, customs data showed on April 26.
The total value of passenger cars shipped abroad reached US$9.1 billion during the January-March period, down 3.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Customs Service.
By volume, a total of 600,000 units sold in foreign markets in the January-March period of this year, was also down 6.2 percent over the cited period, the data showed.
The on-year decline in overseas shipments came as exports to the United States, Canada and other major markets slumped.
Exports to the US dropped 23.6 percent on-year in the January-March period, with shipments to Canada and Germany falling 4.9 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.
Imports of passenger vehicles, meanwhile, surged 61.6 percent on-year to US$3 billion during the three-month period.
For the whole of 2017, passenger car exports reached US$38.1 billion, up 4.5 percent from a year earlier, while imports gained 3.7 percent to US$9.6 billion over the cited period, the latest findings showed.
By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (
ssh@heraldcorp.com)