The value of car exports last month broke a monthly record with USD 6.21 billion. Shown is Hyundai Motor's electric vehicle (EV) Ioniq 5 in March last year at EV Trend Korea, an exhibition of eco-friendly cars, at COEX Mall in Seoul's Gangnam-gu District.

By Margareth Theresia

Car exports in January set a record monthly high with USD 6.2 billion.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Feb. 21 released a report on the auto sector in January saying the value of car exports last month rose to USD 6.21 billion, up 2.7% from January last year.

Export volume over the period rose 23.5% to 245,255 units, the first time for the figure to hit 240,000 since 248,000 in January 2015.

The number of eco-friendly passenger cars rose 12.2% to 62,237 units and export value grew 15.9% to USD 2.07 billion.

Production jumped 16.9% to 358,423 units. The report attributed the rise to normalization of supply chains and parts and components supply as output returned to its level before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The trade surplus of USD 5.4 billion in the auto sector led all other export items as the biggest contributor to the nation's trade surplus last month.

"We announced last month a plan on innovation in eco-friendly mobility regulations to stimulate investment in cars and eliminate obstacles to corporate activities, and 33 (77%) of 43 identified tasks will be finished within this year," the ministry said. "We will systematically support the parts and components sector through a law on the future automobile parts and component industry to take effect in July."

margareth@korea.kr