Korean automakers saw their vehicle sales up in May, helped by a recovery in exports despite the concerns

that the stronger Korean won might hurt their profitability.

Five Korean carmakers sold more than 500,000 vehicles last month, up 18 percent from the same period

last year. Exports jumped 22 percent to 407,726 units, supercharging the sales increase during the period.

Domestic sales edged 2.4 percent to 92,530 units in May, but the pace remained largely sluggish, raising

worries about a slower-than-expected recovery in the domestic auto market.

.....

One of the strongest performances, meanwhile, came from Ssangyong Motor Co.,  which saw auto sales

in May leap 61.1 percent from a year earlier to 10,908 units.

Domestic sales skyrocketed 179.2 percent from a year ago to 6,207 units, and exports also soared

40.3 percent to 4,701 units, Ssangyong Motor said. In the first five months of this year, Ssangyong Motor's

sales rose 8.4 percent year on year to 51,285 units.

....

- Source from The Korea Herald(Jun 2nd, 2006)