SEOUL, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's auto exports and car sales in the local market both posted a double-digit increase last month, a government report showed Wednesday.
Auto sales in the domestic market jumped 20.1 percent over the year to 154,518 units in September, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Sales of cars made by local manufacturers advanced 21.0 percent to 133,252 vehicles, with the number of imported vehicles sold here growing 14.6 percent to 21,266 units.
Automobile exports surged 45.3 percent from a year earlier to 226,479 units in September thanks to robust demand for environmentally friendly models and SUVs.
Auto production in South Korea reached 356,749 units in September, up 38.3 percent from a year earlier. It came mainly from a low base effect as union workers of local key carmakers went on a strike in the same month of last year.
For the first nine months of this year, car exports gained 5.1 percent, with local sales rising 1.5 percent. Auto output increased 4.4 percent.
Auto parts exports reduced 6.4 percent from a year earlier to 1.87 billion U.S. dollars in September as local carmakers shrank production in overseas factories.
