In the first half of this year (January-June), automobile exports hit an all-time high.

According to the  Korea Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s ‘Automotive Export Trends’ on the 17th, the amount of automobile exports in the first half of this year was $35.7 billion, up 46.6% from the same period last year. This is more than $10 billion in exports ($25.2 billion) in the first half of 2014, the previous record.

If automobile parts are included, the total export amount is 47.3 billion dollars. Expectations are rising for achieving the target exports (80 billion dollars) of the automobile industry (automobiles and parts) this year announced in the ‘Future Car Conversion and Export Support Measures for Sustainable Growth of the Automotive Ecosystem’ on May 23rd.

In particular, exports of eco-friendly cars stand out. Exports in the first half of this year were $12.4 billion, showing a high rate of increase of 70.4% compared to the same period last year. The number of eco-friendly cars exported was 384,681 units, and one out of four exported cars was an eco-friendly car.

Among eco-friendly vehicles, electric cars accounted for the largest portion with 182,256 units (47.4%). This was followed by 163,724 hybrids (42.6%), 38,465 plug-in hybrids (10%), and 236 hydrogen cars (0.06%).

Production in the first half of this year also increased by 23.5% year-on-year to 2,197,687 units as the supply of parts such as automotive semiconductors normalized. It is the first time in four years since 2019, before Corona 19, that production in the first half of the year recovered to 2 million units.

In the first half of the year, 893,737 vehicles were sold in the domestic market, up 10.7% from the same period last year. Of these, domestic cars increased by 8.7% year-on-year to 759,000 units, and imported car sales decreased by 3.1% year-on-year to 134,000 units.

In the first half of this year, 264,249 eco-friendly cars were sold in the domestic market. Among them, 176,699 hybrid cars were sold, accounting for the highest share (66.9%) in the domestic eco-friendly car market.

An official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said, “The strength of domestic cars is continuing, centered on the North American and European markets. Expectations for achieving 80 billion dollars in automobile industry exports this year are growing.”