South Korea’s automobile output grew more than 12 percent from a year earlier last month on increasing sales in home and overseas markets, the government said Thursday.

In April, South Korea exported 299,268 cars, up 14 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The country’s total output surged 12.3 percent on-year to 433,799 units as domestic sales of locally produced vehicles jumped 10.2 percent to 131,053.

“Outbound shipments jumped 14 percent on-year to nearly 300,000 units despite the recent ascent of the South Korean won against the dollar as demand in key global markets, such as the U.S. and China, recovered,” the ministry said in a press release.

The won rose from 1,064.5 won per dollar at the end of March to 1,030.6 won on April 29, chipping away at the price competitiveness of locally produced cars, as well as the profitability of their manufacturers.

The country’s five automakers earlier said their combined overseas sales gained 7.7 percent on-year to 672,512 cars last month. The figure includes vehicles produced and sold overseas. The five carmakers are Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, GM Korea, Ssangyong Motor and Renault Samsung Motors.

Domestic sales of imported vehicles continued to increase by a large margin with 16,712 units sold in April, up 25.5 percent from the same period last year, according to the ministry. (Yonhap)