Production, exports of automobiles drop in Oct.

Korea's production and exports both fell last month, the government said Wednesday, apparently due to increased overseas production by the country's automakers and weak demand.

In October, the country's five automakers produced a total of 396,677 vehicles, down 4.3 percent from the same period last year with the number of vehicles shipped overseas also dropping 6.3 percent on-year to 258,361, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.

The ministry attributed the drops to dwindling overseas demand, especially in Europe, for Korean cars.

"October's exports dropped 6.3 percent from a year earlier due to large drops in shipments to key markets, including the EU market and newly emerging markets in Central America," the ministry said in a press release.

However, both the drop in production and overseas shipments appear to have been caused by increased overseas production and sales by South Korean automakers, especially industry leaders Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp., as the five carmakers earlier reported their combined sales in October rose 8.7 percent on-year to 732,635 vehicles with their combined overseas sales surging 10.3 percent to 608,529 units.

In 2011, South Korean automakers produced a little over 4.65 million vehicles domestically and some 3.14 million cars overseas, according to the ministry.

"The rapid increase in overseas production is narrowing the gap with domestic production, but outbound shipments of domestically produced vehicles will continue to complement overseas production as free trade agreements continue to create new opportunities for exports," it said.

The ministry said domestic sales of imported vehicles continued to rise in October with the number of imported vehicles sold in the first 10 months of the year already surpassing last year's annual total of 105,037 cars, which previously was the annual record. (Yonhap)