SEOUL, South Korea’s exports of autos reached a record high for any first quarter in 2024, data showed Tuesday.

Outbound shipments of cars came to US$15.84 billion in the January-March period, up 2.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.

It marked the highest figure for any first quarter ever, beating the previous record of $15.41 billion set a year earlier.

Car exports logged on-year growth for the eighth consecutive quarter.

But the number of units exported inched down 0.8 percent to 680,000 in the first quarter of this year.

By country, auto exports to the United States jumped 24.2 percent on-year to $8.73 billion and those to Canada added 2.4 percent to $1.23 billion.

But sales in Australia shed 11.6 percent to $824 million, and exports to Britain and Germany tumbled 13.2 percent and 39.4 percent, respectively.

Demand for midsized gasoline engine cars led the overall export growth, offsetting falling sales of eco-friendly cars.

Exports of eco-friendly
cars shed 3.3 percent on-year to $5.84 billion in the first quarter, though hybrid cars enjoyed record quarterly sales of $2.09 billion, the data showed.

South Korea’s auto imports sank 29.1 percent to $2.7 billion, the third straight quarterly fall, the data showed.

Last year, the country’s auto exports hit an all-time high of $70.9 billion on the popularity of eco-friendly cars.

Source: Yonhap News Agency