Vehicle sales in South Korea rose 19.1% last month compared with February 2002.

Hyundai sold 144,850 vehicles, up 22% and more than half the 283,793 sold by all five companies, which also include the Hyundai affiliate, Kia Motors, as well as GM Daewoo, Renault Samsung and Ssangyong Motor.

GM Daewoo, however, sold only 34,311 vehicles, down 2.9 percent from February 2002 as a result of slumping exports, which fell 4.5% to 22,642 vehicles.