Data showed that car production in South Korea fell by more than 17% year-on-year in July; due to weak domestic demand and partial strikes at some companies.
According to data from the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, the total production volume of five car companies last month was 290,910 vehicles, a decrease of 17.6% compared to the same month last year.
This is the first time production volume has fallen below 300,000 units since August 2022, when total production reached 284,704 units, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.
For each company individually, Hyundai Motor's production decreased last month by 16.5% to 128,961 vehicles, while Kia saw a decline of 6.5% to 126,598 units.
GM Korea's production fell by 52.6% to 19,885 vehicles, while KG Mobility's production dropped by 28.8% to 7,736 units, and Renault Korea Motors' production decreased by 26.7% to 6,948 units.
Industry monitors attributed the production decline to partial strikes in car companies and parts suppliers, in addition to weak consumer sentiment domestically.
They added that the temporary shutdown of factories during the summer holiday period at the end of July impacted production.