In figures, it looks like this: in February 2021, car exports from Korea amounted to 161,886 units, while a year earlier it was 123,022 units. As a result, revenue increased by 47% – to $3.5 billion.
In total, over the first two months of this year, South Korea sent 353,959 cars to other countries, which is 31.8% more than last year. This dynamic was influenced by the market success of two well-known Korean brands: Hyundai achieved a 40.4% growth in foreign sales, and Kia – by 64.3%.
At the same time, export supplies of GM Korea (the South Korean division of the American concern General Motors) fell by 16.5% (however, the reason was not the plant itself, but its partners, who could not deliver the necessary components in time (we are talking about the global shortage of automotive chips that arose several weeks ago), while exports of another brand from South Korea - SsangYong – generally collapsed by 94.3% (due to the fact that subcontractors reluctantly supplied the company with auto parts because of payment problems).
But a small contribution was made by the Renault Samsung Motors enterprise – it increased exports by 1.8% (thanks to good demand for the XM3 SUV).
Another reason for the growth in exports, identified by the Korean Ministry of Trade and Industry, is the gradual normalization of the economies of South Korea's main foreign trade partners after the peak of the coronavirus pandemic and strict quarantine.
