S.Korea ranks fifth in global auto output for third straight year

South Korea’s auto production last year ranked fifth worldwide for the third year in a row.

A report on world automotive output from the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association released on Thursday said global production last year grew 5.4% to 84.9 million units.

Last year, negative factors included the war in Ukraine and an ensuing shortage of semiconductor auto parts, but global production grew as chip supply returned to normal after the second half of the year.

The 2022 figure, however, still fell short of 92.6 million units in 2019, the year before the coronavirus pandemic broke out.

The top 10 remained the same last year as in 2021. China was No. 1 followed by the US, Japan, India, South Korea, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Spain and Thailand.

China saw remarkable growth in the sector thanks to recovery in domestic demand. Its auto exports also broke three million units for the first time and overall production reached 27 million units up 3.6%. Thus the Middle Kingdom remained No. 1 for the 14th consecutive year.

Runner-up US produced 10.2 million units, up 9.2%, with new car inventory close to a record low despite sluggish domestic demand due to high interest rates.  Third-place Japan, suffering from a shortage of semiconductor-based auto parts, was expected to see 7.3 million units, down 0.2% and the fourth straight year of decline.

India, the world’s leading emerging market, produced 5.4 million units, up 24.1%.  In domestic sales, the country surpassed Japan with 4.7 million units last year to finish third in the category after China and the US.

South Korea produced 3,760,000 units, up 8.5%, to stay at No. 5 for three consecutive years and saw growth for the first time since 2016.

No. 6 Germany finally broke a five-year streak of decline in the sector with 3,743,000 units, up 9.2% and on the heels of South Korea.

“South Korea is considered to have performed well by flexibly responding to crises such as prompt supply chain management and expansion of eco-friendly car production despite negative factors like the coronavirus and war in Ukraine,” the report said. “The speed of conversion to electric vehicles is equally accelerating globally, so the fear is that the lead in auto production could go to competitor and latecomer countries in the sector.”

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com