Car sales in S.Korea post double-digit fall on labor strikes

Domestic auto sales by South Korean carmakers posted a double-digit decline last month due to labor strikes in top automaker Hyundai Motor and the end of a temporary tax cut for vehicles, industry data showed on Thursday.

Five domestic carmakers, including Hyundai, Kia, GM Korea, Renault Samsung and Ssangyong, sold 641,761 vehicles globally in August, up 3.1 percent from a year earlier.

Car sales in the domestic market tumbled 10.6 percent over the year to 107,677 units in August, while auto exports increased 6.3 percent to 534,084 units.

Weak domestic demand for cars came as Hyundai's workers went on a strike last month, delaying production in the country's largest automaker.

The end in June of the government's temporary tax cut for cars also made contributions to falling car sales in the local market.

Hyundai's local car sales tumbled 17.6 percent in August from a year earlier at 42,112 units. Including overseas sales, global car sales declined 3.1 percent to 358,447 units last month.

The No.2 carmaker Kia Motors saw its global car sales increase 12.2 percent to 219,925 units. Overseas sales jumped 18.3 percent to 182,522, but local auto sales stood at 37,403 vehicles, down 10.4 percent compared with a year ago.

GM Korea's exports increased 5 percent to 23,198 units, but the company's domestic car sales slumped 7.7 percent to 12,773 units.

Renault Samsung's local car sales surged 24.4 percent on strong demand for SM6, a new passenger car model released in March.

Ssangyong's car sales at home and abroad totaled 12,178 units in August, up 13.1 percent from a year earlier thanks to robust sales of Tivoli, a SUV model the sales of which increased 24.9 percent in the local market. Enditem