Domestic car sales gain 5.8% in July

Vehicle sales in South Korea hit a monthly high for this year in July, bolstered by price cuts, new-model launches and strong shipments of imported cars, government data showed Sunday. A total of 140,642 cars were sold last month, up 5.8 percent from a year earlier and the largest monthly tally for this year, according to the data by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy carried by Yonhap news agency. The July increase came after monthly sales ranged from 110,000 units to 130,000 between the January-June period. The ministry attributed the July gain to cuts in prices of major models, rollouts of new models and a surge in shipments of imported vehicles. Sales of imported cars reached a record monthly high of 14,953 units in July. Shipments of local brands climbed 2.9 percent on-year to 125,689 units last month. Domestic car output, meanwhile, fell 6.1 percent on-year to 334,139 units in July, with exports of locally made vehicles declining 7.3 percent to 223,482, according to the data.