Jung-hee Kim, Gounee Yang Global Economic News AUTOMOBILE sales of South Korean manufacturers have slightly increased despite disruption including semiconductor shortages. According to Hyundai Motor, Kia, Renault Samsung, Korea GM, and Ssangyong Motor, they sold a combined 539,236 units in the domestic and overseas market in September, when production disruptions due to semiconductor shortages became serious. But their sales have showed gradual recovery since then, with 548,162 units sold in October and 573,728 units in November. Inventories held by the five global automobile semiconductor manufacturers have also increased. According to the analysis from Nihon Keizai Shimbun, semiconductor inventories held by the five companies, Renesas in Japan, NXP in the Netherlands, Infineon in Germany, STMicroelectronics in Switzerland, and Texas Instruments in the United States, increased 0.7 percent year on year in the third quarter. This is the first increase in three quarters. Nikkei said, “It means that the shortage of automobile semiconductor is being eased.” “Despite the continued business uncertainty due to the shortages of semiconductor components and COVID-19 situation, we will minimize the impact on supply delays by adjusting the production schedule such as first producing models that can be shipped quickly,” said officials from Hyundai Motor and Kia. “Production has been actually increasing since September.” However, sales of the five companies in November fell 15 percent year on year. The five companies sold a total of 123,136 units in the domestic market last month, down 14.2 percent year on year, and 455,592 units in the global market, down 15.2 percent. | 