In February this year, South Korea's total car output decreased by 19.8 percent year on year and was down 17.6 percent compared to February 2012, totaling 338,278 units, according to a report released by the Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE). The report says that the fall was due to fewer working days as the Lunar New Year holiday fell in February this year.

For the month of February, a contraction in the European market and fewer working days caused South Korea's car exports to fall 21.9 percent year on year to 234,161 units, down 17.6 percent compared to January of the current year.

In the given month, the holiday and weaker local demand contributed to the 10.3 percent year-on-year decrease in the number of vehicles sold in the domestic market, which totaled 110,090 vehicles. Compared with the previous month, domestic sales of South Korean cars declined 6.2 percent in February. However, strong sales of German brands helped sales of imported cars rise 14.8 percent year on year to 10,556 vehicles.