South Korea's exports of automobiles lost ground in January from a year earlier, data showed Sunday, mainly because a weak yen eroded their price competitiveness.

Overseas shipments came to 249,675 units last month, down 2.8 percent from a year earlier, the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy showed.

It marked an 18.1 percent drop from a month earlier, when exports hovered above 300,000 units.

Industry watchers said the weak Japanese yen made South Korean goods relatively expensive in the global market, while the prolonged economic slump in Eastern Europe and Russia was also responsible.

The data also showed South Korea's automobile output came to 376,017 units in January, up 2.1 percent from a year earlier.

Domestic sales of automobiles came to 132,337 units in January, up 8.5 percent on-year, helped by the launch of new models.

In January, sales of imported cars came to 21,576 units, up 43.5 percent from last year. Of the total, German-made automobiles took up 71.5 percent. (Yonhap)