Auto shipments by Korea-based carmakers contracted against a year-ago period for five consecutive months in November amid ongoing chip shortages that caused output setbacks.

The five automakers – Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Corp., Renault Samsung Motors Co., SsangYong Motor Co. and GM Korea Co. – delivered a combined 600,310 vehicles in November, off 11.4 percent from a year ago, according to the companies on Wednesday. Their monthly global shipments declined for the fifth consecutive month on year.

Domestic shipments dipped 14.2 percent on year to 123,136 units in November, extending the losing streak for nine months in a row. Outbound sales also dropped 10.7 percent on year to 477,165 units.

Four makers reported on-year loss in vehicle sales, whereas only Renault Samsung Motors saw on-year rise in monthly car shipments.

The country’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor delivered total 312,602 units last month, down 17.1 percent from a year earlier. It delivered 62,071 units at home, falling 11.4 percent on year. Its overseas sales lost 18.4 percent to 250,531 units from the previous year.

The Grandeur sold 6,918 units, becoming the best-selling model at home. The Sonata was the second most-selling model with 5,179 units, followed by the Avante with 5,441 units, Palisade with 4,503 units, Casper with 3,965 units, and luxury marque Genesis’ G80 with 3,946 units.

All-electric Ioniq 5 built on Hyundai Motor Group’s EV-dedicate proprietary platform E-GMP sold 2,228 units.

Kia sold total 222,232 units last month, losing 13.3 percent on year. Shipments dropped 8.9 percent to 46,042 units in Korea and 14.3 percent to 176,190 units overseas. The Sportage become the best-selling model in the global market after delivering 28,532 units, followed by the Seltos with sales of 25,941 units and K3 Forte with 18,052 units.

In Korea, Kia’s Sportage sold 7,540 units, ranking top among the entire model of the five makers. Passenger cars sold total 16,905 units – The K5 4,483 units, K8 4,417 units, and Ray 3,028 units.

GM Korea under U.S. automaker General Motors Co. sold 12,274 units, plunging 42.6 percent on year, when excluding complete knock-down kits. Domestic sales plummeted 60.1 percent to 2,617 units, and offshore sales down 34.9 percent to 9,657 units.

Chevy Spark sold the largest 1,120 units at home, and Chevy Trailblazer the second-largest 628 units.

Renault Samsung Motors, the Korean operation of French carmaker Renault S.A., sold 17,872 units, soaring 121.4 percent against a year earlier as its outbound shipments jumped to more than 13-fold to 11,743 units. Domestic deliveries shriveled 15 percent to 6,129 units.

The XM3 crossover utility vehicle drove the sales growth with 11,535 units shipped globally on growing popularity.

SsangYong Motor under court management saw its vehicle sales down 26 percent to 8,778 units last month. It sold 6,277 units at home, down 32.3 percent on year. Sales of The New Rexton Sport Khan jumped more than 80 percent to 3,159 units, marking the biggest monthly record of this year.

By Pulse

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