Seoul, May 20 (AHN) South Korea's auto exports decreased more than 5 per cent from a year earlier in April, amid a sharp decrease in shipments to the Middle East due to a geopolitical crisis there, government data showed on Wednesday.

But with higher oil prices caused by the Mideast crisis, domestic sales of electric vehicles increased sharply.

The combined value of automobile exports came to $6.17 billion last month, down 5.5 per cent from the same month last year, according to the data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, reports Yonhap news agency.

Outbound shipments to North America, Latin America and Oceania went up by 2.4 per cent, 23.7 per cent and 20.1 per cent on-year, respectively, but exports to the Middle East plunged 38.7 per cent amid the ongoing war between the United States and Iran.

Exports to the European Union also slid 13.1 per cent, while shipments to Asia plunged 31.7 per cent.

By type, exports of eco-friendly vehicles rose 13.5 per cent to $2.52 billion in April, led by a 23.1 per cent increase in EV and hydrogen car sales and a 40.2 per cent jump for hybrid cars.

Domestically, 152,000 vehicles were sold last month, up a modest 0.7 per cent.

Eco-friendly vehicles accounted for nearly 60 per cent of domestic car sales, or 91,250 units. The tally marked a 31 per cent increase from a year earlier.

In detail, domestic EV sales surged 139.7 per cent to 38,927 units, while sales of hybrid cars dipped 1.9 per cent to 50,872 units.

"Demand for EVs sharply increased on higher oil prices caused by the war in the Middle East and the introduction of a vehicle rotation system," a ministry official said.

On the back of the EV popularity here, sales of U.S. EV giant Tesla skyrocketed 811.5 per cent on-year to 13,190 units in April. Sales of Chinese EV maker BYD also shot up 272.6 per cent to 2,023 units.

Data also showed that domestic automobile production contracted 6.1 percent on-year to 362,000 units due to supply chain disruptions of some auto parts and consumers waiting for the launch of new and facelifted models of major vehicle lineups.

Production at GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., KG Mobility Corp. and Kia Corp. gained 15.4 percent, 8.6 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

But production at Hyundai Motor Co. dipped 16.2 per cent, while Renault Korea saw its production decline 32.3 per cent.

The ministry said production disruptions caused by supply chain issues are expected to normalize starting in June.