Seoul, Oct 31 (IANS): South Korea's exports of passenger cars fell for the first time in over two years in the third quarter of 2024 on weak demand for eco-friendly cars, particularly in Europe, data showed on Thursday.

South Korean carmakers shipped US$13.96 billion worth of passenger cars during the July-September period, down 4.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the Korea Customs Service.

It marked the first on-year fall since the first quarter of 2022, when car exports inched down 0.6 per cent, reports Yonhap news agency.

In terms of volume, exports of South Korean vehicles fell 3 percent on-year to 590,000 units.

Imports rose 12.6 per cent to $3.04 billion in the third quarter, the first on-year increase since the fourth quarter of 2023, data showed.

The decline in exports came as overseas sales of eco-friendly cars shed 1.27 per cent on-year to $5.42 billion in the third quarter.

In detail, demand for electric cars sank 44.4 per cent to $2 billion, while sales of hybrid vehicles reached a record high of $3.01 billion.

By destination, car exports to the United States rose 1.2 per cent in terms of value in the July-September period, and those to Canada and Saudi Arabia advanced 30.2 per cent and 5.2 per cent, respectively.

But demand from Australia fell 7.4 per cent and that from Britain and France tumbled 8.3 per cent and 27.5 per cent, respectively.

The average price of cars shipped in the third quarter slid 1.7 per cent on-year to $23,562. That of imports sank 10.7 per cent on-year to $40,711, the data showed.

Also, new automobile sales during the first nine months of the year fell over 8 per cent from a year earlier amid high borrowing costs and a slowdown in global electric vehicle demand, industry data showed.