April 16, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Exports of passenger car exports from Korea rose 18.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018 from a year earlier due to increased demand in the United States, Russia and Canada, customs data showed on Jan. 30.

Local carmakers shipped 690,000 passenger cars worth US$10.7 billion during the October-December period, compared with 590,000 cars worth US$9 billion a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service.

Korea’s passenger car exports to the US reached US$4.21 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018, up 24.3 percent from a year earlier. The value of cars sent to Russia and Canada jumped 77.3 percent and 45.4 percent, respectively, in the fourth quarter of 2018 from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the value of vehicles shipped to Saudi Arabia and Australia fell 27.5 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively, in the fourth quarter of 2018 from a year earlier.

For the whole of 2018, Korea’s car exports reached 2.47 million passenger cars worth US$37.5 billion, down from 2.54 million units worth US$38.1 billion in 2017, according to the KCS.

Shipments of passenger vehicles to the US fell 7 percent to US$13.5 billion in 2018 from US$14.6 billion a year earlier.

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)