Exports Drive South Korean Autos

Following disappointing domestic sales in 2004, South Korea's automotive industry has rallied to register record output of 3.699mn units in 2005, largely thanks to thriving exports. Incidents such as the industrial action by leading manufacturers Hyundai and Kia, which cost the two carmakers a combined KRW389.2bn in lost production, did not have as much of an overall effect as we first expected. We remained cautious in forecasting an increase of less then 2% in 2005, although output actually rose by 6.6%. Accordingly, BMI has revised its output figure for 2006 upwards although we still expect growth to slow to around

To read the full article, please choose one of the following options: