Last month, automobile exports reached a record high for any June, while domestic sales and production also recorded a triple increase.

Eco-friendly vehicles continued their strong performance, surpassing 100,000 units in monthly exports for the first time.

According to the "June Automobile Industry Trends" report released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on July 15, the value of automobile exports rose 5.8% year-on-year to $6.71 billion, marking the highest export performance for any June on record.

Despite a decline in exports to Asia ($540 million, -13.7%) and the Middle East ($460 million, -11.4%) due to the base effect from strong used car exports the previous year and the impact of the Middle East conflict, exports to key markets such as North America ($3.61 billion, 12.3%) and the European Union ($870 million, 13.7%) increased.

In particular, eco-friendly vehicle exports last month increased by 35.4% to a total of 102,554 units, accounting for 38.2% of the total automobile export volume of 268,169 units.

This is the first time that the monthly export volume of eco-friendly vehicles has exceeded 100,000 units.

The value of eco-friendly vehicle exports increased by 31.3% to $2.9 billion.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy explained that hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles led the expansion of exports in the United States and Europe, respectively.

Eco-friendly vehicles also performed strongly in the domestic market, accounting for 59% of total sales.

Sales volume increased by 29.6% compared to the same period last year to 94,222 units, with electric vehicle sales rising by 92.1% to 39,031 units.

Total domestic automobile sales last month were recorded at 159,725 units, an increase of 9.5%.

Automobile production increased by 11.6% to 394,210 units.

This is interpreted as the result of the growth in domestic sales and the normalization of alternative supplies for parts that had previously faced supply disruptions.

As of the first half of this year, automobile production remained steady at 2,110,783 units, similar to the 2,111,101 units recorded during the same period last year.

Domestic sales in the first half of the year reached 847,630 units, and export volume reached 1,441,108 units, an increase of 2.5% and 2.1%, respectively.

However, the value of exports decreased by 1.1% compared to the same period last year to $35.95 billion, due to reasons such as a decline in used car exports.

By passenger car model, the Sorento had the highest domestic sales in the first half of the year with 55,426 units, followed by the Model Y with 43,359 units and the Grandeur with 38,390 units.

In June, the Grandeur took first place with 10,062 units, surpassing the Model Y with 9,188 units and the Sorento with 8,561 units.

In terms of exports, the Trax maintained its top position with 30,545 units in June and 172,121 units for the first half of the year.