South Korean car makers boosted sales overall 5.8% in October, thanks to healthy exports, but Hyundai Motor sales fell due to extended public holidays last month.
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Analysts told Reuters that the results posted on Wednesday were positive, given the fewer business days in October compared to a year earlier.
“South Korean car makers showed a recovery in sales volume, and they will maintain a growth path, helped by lower oil prices, new models and healthy exports,” Suh Sung-moon, an auto analyst at Korea Investment & Securities, told the news agency, which added that some analysts remained cautious, saying a rise in October sales was not driven by industry demand but heavy marketing costs.
Reuters said auto makers are expected to post a fall in December’s sales volume from a year earlier, when South Korean customers rushed to buy new cars before a tax benefit expired.
Combined October vehicle sales rose to 493,768 vehicles from 466,756 a year earlier but October’s figure is down 9.7% down from a revised 546,706 vehicles in September, a decline analysts polled by the news agency blamed on the holidays in the first week of October.
Exports rose 7.3% to 396,335 vehicles from a year before, with domestic sales up 0.2% to 97,433, the report added.
