Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s second-largest automaker, said Monday its domestic sales fell 8.2 percent in May from a year ago due to decreased production at home.

Its overseas sales, however, rose 1.5 percent on-year in May.

A fewer number of working days due to holidays early in the month pulled down its domestic sales in May, the automaker said. Kia Motors sold a total of 253,618 units last month, 36,252 at home and 217,366 abroad.

A 3.8 percent gain in its overseas production was the main factor for the increase in its overseas sales, the company said. The May sales figure, however, is down 8.4 percent from the previous month.

Its flagship cars such as the K3 and K5 sedans, and Sportage R SUV led the advance in its overseas sales, the company said. For the first five months, Kia’s combined sales in South Korea reached 183,262 units, down 2.9 percent from the same period last year. The company’s combined overseas sales rose 9.7 percent to 1.12 million units in the same period.

Kia Motors said it plans to overcome the sluggish domestic sales with the launch of its brand new Carnival minivan this month. (Yonhap)