Korea's Auto Exports Grow Over 8% In August

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published September 16, 2025 | 10:30 AM

SEOUL, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 16th Sep, 2025) The Republic of Korea's automobile exports increased 8.6 percent from a year earlier in August despite US tariffs, thanks to robust demand for electric vehicles (EVs) in Europe, data showed Tuesday.

The value of outbound shipments of automobiles came to US$5.5 billion last month, the highest figure for any August, according to the data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

In terms of volume, exports gained 5.5 percent on-year to 200,317 vehicles last month.

The value of accumulated auto exports from January to August reached an all-time high of $47.7 billion.

Yonhap news Agency quoted the ministry said demand for Korean cars went up in all regions, except for North America, where Korean cars are currently subject to 25 percent tariffs by US President Donald Trump's administration.

Exports to the European Union surged 54 percent on-year to $792 million last month, with shipments to Germany and the Netherlands soaring 118.

7 percent and 110.3 percent, respectively. Exports to Britain shot up 115.7 percent on-year to $250 million, and shipments to Turkey spiked 96.1 percent to $100 million.

Shipments to Asia went up 9.3 percent to $591 million, and those to the middle East rose 9.8 percent to $369 million. Exports to Oceania jumped 20.1 percent to $344 million.

Shipments to North America, however, shrank 8.3 percent on-year to $2.55 billion in August, with exports to the US dipping 15.2 percent to $2.1 billion.

By type, exports of eco-friendly cars, such as EVs, hybrid cars and hydrogen EVs, expanded 26.6 percent from a year earlier to 69,000 vehicles last month.

In particular, shipments of EVs surged 78.4 percent to 23,000 vehicles amid the global popularity of Kia's EV3 model and Hyundai Motor's Casper Electric model, sold as the Inster in overseas markets.