SEOUL, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Automobile production in South Korea rose for two straight months through January on strong demand both at home and abroad, a government report said Tuesday.
The number of cars manufactured in domestic factories was 354,305 in January, up 9.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
The auto production kept growing for two months due to solid demand among consumers at home and abroad.
Domestic car sales gained 1.5 percent over the year to 136,157 units in January on demand for sports utility vehicle (SUV) and the temporary cut in consumption tax.
Car export advanced 12.6 percent to 213,618 in the cited period thanks to the robust SUV demand and strong sales in the North American and European markets.
Outbound shipment of car components picked up 12.7 percent to 2.06 billion U.S. dollars last month.
The environmentally-friendly vehicles saw its local sales increase 12.5 percent on popularity for hybrid models, while its export surged 64.3 percent in January from a year ago.
