Three among five leading carmakers in South Korea saw their September sales slide from a year ago, hit by sagging demand and disruption in production from lengthy strikes by autoworkers.

The country’s biggest automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and its sister company Kia Motors Corp. both saw their domestic shipment and production tumble this month as their unionized workers waged numerous strikes including full-fledged walkout for the first time in 12 years. Hyundai Motor sold combined 387,302 units globally in September, down 2.0 percent from the same month last year. Its domestic shipment plummeted 20 percent on year to 41,548 units. Overseas sales also slipped 20.9 percent to 345,754 units due to delayed output from domestic factories. Turnout by overseas factories instead gained 6.4 percent to make up for the slowdown in Korean assembly lines. Exports volume gained 0.8 percent from a year-ago period.

The unionized workers at Hyundai Motor downed their tools 24 times as of Wednesday, affecting production of 131,851 vehicles worth over 2.9 trillion won.

The month of September usually serves as a watershed to estimate car sales for the latter half, but Hyundai’s domestic sales were wrecked by multiple scourges including prolonged economic slowdown and lengthy strikes, according to a company official.

The carmaker’s sales at home front was sustained by its popular sedan Sonata (including hybrids 389 units) which sold 6,106 units and sport utility vehicle (SUV) the Santa Fe that sold 7,451 units. In the premium league, Genesis brand cars including the G80 sold 3,500 units including 480 in DH Genesis units and the EQ900 976 units.

Its sibling company Kia Motors sold combined 235,413 units - 38,300 units at home and 197,113 units abroad - last month, up 3.1 percent from a year ago. Like Hyundai, it took a heavy blow from workers’ walkout which slashed domestic and overseas shipment by 14.9 percent and 19.5 percent respectively on year. Its total export volume, however, rose 7.5 percent helped by 27.7-percent increase in overseas plant turnout.

Robust sales of the K3 sedans and SUVs such as the New Sportage and the Sorrento rolled out from lines in Mexico and China largely leveraged the automaker’s shipment. Kia’s cumulative sales in the first nine months this year came to 2,142,584 units - 396,460 at home and 1,746,124 abroad - down 2.1 percent from a year ago.

GM Korea Co. saw both demands at home and abroad fall sharply last month, having sold 14,078 units at home, down 14.1 percent on year, and exported 31,035 units overseas, down 11.6 percent on year.

Renault Samsung Motors Co. sold a total of 13,557 units, down 38.8 percent from a year earlier. Its export tumbled 72 percent as changes had to be made to Nissan Rogue SUVs that it exports to the United States. Yet its domestic shipment remained strong as it sold a total of 9,222 units of SM6 sedans and the QM6 SUVs at home last month, up 39.6 percent on year.

By Chun Beom-joo

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]