South Korean carmakers' sales dip on strikes

SEOUL (Reuters) - Combined sales of South Korea's

automakers dipped 0.7 percent from a year ago, data from

companies showed on Wednesday, hit by partial strikes at Hyundai

Motor Co and weaker domestic demand amid credit crisis worries.

Hyundai and the country's four other auto

companies sold 387,272 vehicles in September, compared to 389,834

a year earlier and up 5.8 percent from 365,874 in August.

Local sales fell 14.7 percent to 77,635 vehicles in September

from 90,957 a year ago, while overseas sales rose 3.6 percent to

309,637 vehicles in September from 298,877 a year earlier.

Auto exports, which account for 10 percent of all South

Korean exports, fell an estimated 18.4 percent in value from a

year ago, data from the Ministry of Knowledge Economy showed

earlier.

Sales of Hyundai edged up 0.6 percent from a year ago, but

its local sales dropped 35.3 percent as unionized workers at the