New car sales dips to 11-yr low for Jan.-Sept. period amid high interest rates

New automobile sales during the first nine months of the year fell over 8 percent from a year earlier amid high borrowing costs and a slowdown in global electric vehicle demand, industry data showed Wednesday. According to the data from the Korea Automobile and Mobility Association (KAMA), registrations of new cars during the January-September period totaled 1,209,154 units, down 8.7 percent from a year ago. It marked the lowest recording for the nine-month period since the 1,175,010 units tallied in 2013. The number of gasoline vehicles decreased 19.6 percent on-year to 515,000 units, while diesel registrations plummeted 56.7 percent to 99,000 units. EV registrations also fell 7.9 percent to 108,000. Hybrids was the only category that saw a bump in registrations, adding 27.6 percent to 355,000 units. Industry watchers have attributed high-interest rates as having led to consumers holding back on car purchases, as well as an overall stagnation of EV demand. The country's annual tally is also estimated t o reach its lowest level in 11 years, barely exceeding 1.6 million units. KAMA previously predicted annual sales to reach 1.7 million units. Source: Yonhap News Agency