Japanese Car Sale In S.Korea Falls 58.4 Pct In October On Boycott Campaign

Japanese car sale in South Korea fell in double figures last month, continuing a double-digit fall for the fourth consecutive month amid the ongoing campaign to boycott Japanese products, a government report showed Thursday

SEOUL, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Nov, 2019 ) :Japanese car sale in South Korea fell in double figures last month, continuing a double-digit fall for the fourth consecutive month amid the ongoing campaign to boycott Japanese products, a government report showed Thursday.

The sale of Japanese vehicle brands here was 1,977 in October, down 58.4 percent from a year earlier, according to South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

After sliding 17.2 percent in July, the Japanese car sale continued to drop 56.9 percent in August and 59.8 percent in September each.

It was caused by Japan's tighter control in July over its export to South Korea of three materials, vital to manufacture memory chips and display panels that are the mainstay of the South Korean export.

Japan's export curbs came in an apparent protest against the South Korean top court's rulings that ordered some of Japanese companies to pay reparation to the South Korean victims who were forced into hard labor without pay during the 1910-45 Japanese colonization of the Korean Peninsula.

Amid the trade, spat and the frayed ties between Seoul and Tokyo over the historical issues, South Korean consumers launched a campaign to boycott Japanese products and tour to Japan.

Meanwhile, the overall sale of imported vehicles expanded 8.7 percent in October from a year earlier due to strong demand for German luxury brands.

The sale of vehicles, produced by domestic carmakers, slipped 3.9 percent in the cited period.

Auto production declined 7.9 percent in October on a yearly basis, while car export contracted 10.2 percent on the weak global demand.