Ssangyong Motor's June sales soar on brisk exports

Ssangyong Motor Co., South Korea's smallest automaker, said Friday its sales jumped nearly 40 percent on-year in June on record exports, topping the 10,000-unit mark for the fourth straight month. The company sold 10,364 vehicles last month, up 39.6 percent from 7,422 units sold in the same period last year. Domestic sales fell 7.6 percent on-year to 2,777 units, but exports shot up 71.7 percent to 7,587 units, the highest monthly number since October 2006. Ssangyong said for the first half of the year, sales soared 53.0 percent from the previous year to 55,873 vehicles. Exports were up 65.3 percent to 35,627 units from January through June, and domestic sales increased 35.4 percent to 20,246 vehicles.