[THE INVESTOR] South Korea's automobile exports fell more than 13 percent in the first six months of the year, weighed down by falling demand from new emerging markets, data showed on July 10.

South Korean carmakers shipped 1.33 million vehicles abroad during the first half of the year. The figure is 13.3 percent lower than that recorded during the same period last year earlier. 

The government said the decrease followed the sluggish growth in new emerging markets, such as the Middle East, and the Central and South Americas.

Overseas shipments to the Middle East region tumbled 40.3 percent on-year and to the Central and South Americas decreased 15.3 percent on-year.

Auto sales in the domestic market, however, jumped more than 9 percent in the first half of this year from a year earlier, the data showed, an increase that could be attributable to a temporary tax cut on cars.

The combined sales of automakers operating in South Korea came to 934,864 units in the January-June period, up 9.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data.

Sales of foreign cars in South Korea, meanwhile, were weighed down by a slump of German automaker Volkswagen Group in the wake of a widening probe into its emissions scandal here, the data showed.

The percentage of imports out of the total came to 14 percent in the January-June period, down 1.2 percentage points from 15.2 percent a year earlier, the data showed.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)