Korean carmakers led by Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors saw their car sales slow in February as holidays, the removal of tax breaks and the prolonged economic slowdown sapped new car demand here.

Hyundai, the nation’s largest carmaker, said Monday it sold 318,957 vehicles last month globally, up 1.5 percent from a year ago.

In its home turf alone, however, the company said its car sales fell 11.5 percent to 47,489 in February.

“Reduced working days during the New Year holidays led to a sales decrease. The removal of tax cuts from this year and the prolonged economic slowdown also affected sales negatively,” said a Hyundai official.

In overseas markets, Hyundai posted a 3.8 percent increase in car sales, selling 318,957 vehicles last month.

“This year, car sales are expected to slow in both advanced and emerging markets, while volatile foreign exchange rates may strengthen business uncertainties,” said the official.

Hyundai has set a sales goal for this year at 4.66 million vehicles, including 668,000 in Korea and 3.992 million in abroad.

Car deliveries of Hyundai’s affiliate Kia also plunged 14.5 percent to 205,354 ― 32,900 in Korea and 172,454 in abroad ― in February compared to a year ago.

Despite stable performance of flagship models such as the Morning, K3, K5 and Sportage R, the carmaker said it could not buck the downward trend in the local auto industry.

Its domestic car sales for the month was the lowest since August last year.

The company said it plans to make up the sales loss through new model launches and overseas sales.

GM Korea which sold 58,574 vehicles last month posted relatively moderate declines of 3 percent at home and 7.7 percent globally from a year ago.

The company hinted at staging aggressive marketing activities this month to elevate the sales momentum of new models ― the Chevrolet Captiva and Trax.

Renault Samsung Motors, which is still struggling to recover from sluggish car sales, showed some recovery as its February car sales more than doubled from a month ago.

The carmaker sold 11,611 vehicles at home and abroad last month. But the figure was still a 31 percent plunge from the same period in 2012.

The smallest automaker, Ssangyong Motor said its February car sales increased 11.5 percent to 9,884 units. Its domestic sales have topped the 4,000 mark for six consecutive months.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)