GM Korea's 2013 sales contract 2.5 pct

GM Korea Co., the local unit of General Motors Co. of the United States, said Thursday that its 2013 sales contracted 2.5 percent from a year earlier mainly due to sluggish overseas demand.

South Korea's third-largest carmaker sold a total of 780,518 vehicles last year, down from 800,635 sold for the whole of 2012, the company said in a press release.

Its domestic sales climbed 3.7 percent on-year to a high of 151,040 units, on the back of demand for steady-selling models such as the Aveo subcompact, Captiva recreational vehicle and small commercial vans and trucks such as the Damas and Labo. Domestic sales numbers mark a new high for the company, replacing the previous record of 145,702 reached last year.

Overseas shipments, however, fell 3.9 percent to 629,478 vehicles due to weak general demand for cars.

The latest data showed the carmaker's Chevrolet Spark supermini remained by far its best-selling model, with 60,969 units sold last year.

For December, GM Korea posted a 6.2 percent drop in sales vis-a-vis a year earlier, with sales hitting 72,840 units. Its domestic sales surged 25 percent on-year to 17,853 units, but exports dropped 13.2 percent to 54,987 units. Domestic numbers represent sixth straight month of sales gains by GM Korea compared with the same month a year before, the company said. (Yonhap News)