S. Korea's carmakers suffer 5% sales dip in November

South Korea five carmakers sold a combined 674,040 vehicles in November, down 5 percent from the 710,466 units a year as the coronavirus outbreak continued to sap global demand.

A series of strikes added to the carmakers' woes.

Domestic sales of Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp., GM Korea Co., Renault Samsung Motors Corp., and SsangYong Motor Co. jumped 5 percent to 143,591 units in November from 136,414 last year.

But their overseas sales plummeted 7.6 percent to 530,449 units from 574,052 in the said period.

Hyundai and Kia reduced production at their overseas plants as the COVID-19 pandemic continued.

A three-day walkout at Kia's domestic plants in November also affected combined sales.

In November, Hyundai's sales dropped 4.3 percent to 376,704 units from 393,694, while Kia's rose 2 percent to 256,019 from 250,952 over the cited period.

Hyundai's top sellers were the Palisade, Tucson, and Santa Fe SUVs, while it was the Sportage SUV and the Carnival minivan for Kia.

Hyundai and Kia, which collectively are the world's fifth-biggest carmaker by sales, vowed to minimize the negative impact of the pandemic on global vehicle sales while focusing on boosting its SUV's popularity.

GM Korea sold 21,384 units last month, plummeting by 46 percent from 39,317 a year ago, while Renault Samsung posted sales of 8,074, plunging 49 percent from 15,749 in the same period.

Both companies suspended production last month.

The five carmakers have sold a total of 6,283,652 units from January to November, down 13 percent from the 67,232,728 sold in the same period of last year.

In the first 11 months, their domestic sales increased 6.2 percent to 1,483,974 from the 1,388,327 last year, but overseas sales dropped by fell 18 percent to 4,809,678 from 5,844,401.