Global sales by Korean automakers fell in 2016

Global sales of cars produced by five Korean automakers shrank slightly from a year earlier in 2016 due to a decline in overseas sales that more than offset an increase in sales here, data released by the carmakers showed Monday.

The combined global sales of the five automakers came to 8,890,530 cars last year, down 1.3 percent from the previous year.

Led by Hyundai Motor, the five carmakers sold a combined total of 1,588,572 cars in the domestic market, up 0.6 percent from 1,579,705 units sold the previous year. However, their overseas sales retreated 1.7 percent on-year to 7,301,958.

The five carmakers include Kia Motors, an affiliate of Hyundai Motor. The rest are GM Korea, the Korean unit of American automaker General Motors; SsangYong Motor, the Korean unit of Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra; and Renault Samsung Motors, the local unit of French automaker Renault.

In 2016, local industry leader Hyundai Motor saw its domestic sales plunge 7.8 percent, becoming the only carmaker here to post negative growth in the local market. Its overseas sales also slipped 1.2 percent on-year to some 4.2 million cars.

Such a drop in both domestic and overseas sales was partly attributed to a series of labor strikes that caused a serious cut in output here.

“Last year, Hyundai Motor struggled due to the largest-ever missed production in its history and an economic slump in newly emerging markets amid a low growth trend in the global economy,” it said in a press release. Yonhap