The average price of vehicles shipped overseas by South Korean automakers grew 4.4 percent from a year earlier in the first two months of the year, more than offsetting a drop in the volume of their shipments, an industry group said Sunday.

According to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, the number of cars shipped overseas by the country’s five automakers in the first two months of the year dropped 5 percent to 518,251 units from 545,796 units in the same period last year.

The average price of the vehicles, however, gained 4.4 percent on-year to $14,100 from $13,500.

KAMA said the rise in price helped keep overseas sales of most automakers growing.

In the January-February period, industry leader Hyundai Motor Co. exported 205,195 vehicles, down 0.3 percent from the same period last year, but the total value of the vehicles rose 2.6 percent on-year to some $3.25 billion, it said.

Overseas shipments by GM Korea, the South Korean unit of U.S. automaker General Motors Co., also dropped 0.7 percent on-year in the first two months of the year, but its overseas sales jumped 17.2 percent from a year earlier as the average price of vehicles sold overseas surged 17.9 percent.

The increase in the unit price was mainly due to growing shipments of large expensive vehicles, rather than a rise in the actual price of each vehicle, according to KAMA. (Yonhap News)