SEOUL: Kia, South Korea’s second-largest automaker, said on Thursday its sales fell 4.9 per cent last month from a year earlier as a global chip shortage affected its vehicle production and sales.

Kia sold a total of 234,554 vehicles in May, down from 246,768 units a year ago, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales declined 4.7 per cent on-year to 45,663 units last month from 47,901, while exports were down 5 per cent to 188,891 from 198,867 during the cited period. From January to May, sales dropped 2.5 per cent to 1,159,832 autos from 1,190,045 units globally during the same period of last year. Meanwhile, Kia India sold a total of 18,718 vehicles in May. It has surpassed the domestic sales milestone of 4.5 lakh.