GM Korea Co. said Monday its sales rose 4.1 percent last month from a year earlier, helped by increased sales of its sport utility vehicle models despite the coronavirus pandemic.

The South Korean unit of General Motors Co. sold 31,391 vehicles in October, up from 30,158 units the previous year, the company said in a statement.

Domestic sales climbed 11 percent to 7,064 units last month from 6,394 a year ago. Exports were up 2.4 percent to 24,327 from 23,764, it said. 

Robust sales of SUV models, such as the Trailblazer and the Traverse, and the Colorado pickup truck helped push up the monthly sales results.

From January to October, sales fell 12 percent to 300,352 autos from 339,292 in the same period of last year.

Domestic sales declined 11 percent to 67,139 in the first 10 months from 60,328 in the year-ago period, while exports were down 16 percent to 233,213 from 278,964 during the cited period. (Yonhap)