SEOUL, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's automobile export posted a double-digit decline in July on weak demand for locally-made vehicles, a government report showed Tuesday.

The number of cars exported by domestic manufacturers was 190,812 in July, down 15.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

It was attributed to soft demand from major economies. Car shipments to North America and the European Union (EU) retreated 10.4 percent and 17.8 percent, respectively, with those to the Middle East and Latin American nations sliding 37.9 percent and 19.3 percent each.

Kia Motors, the country's No.2 automaker, launched the production of its Mexico factory, leading to lower production of some models in local plants.

Affected by the soft export, auto production slumped 17.5 percent over the year to 306,374 units in July.

Car sales in the domestic market increased 3.8 percent to 154,872 vehicles last month thanks to strong demand for imported cars.

Locally-made car sales added 2 percent to 133,142 units in July, with the figure for imported vehicles jumping 16.4 percent to 22,730 in the month.

Export for auto components gained 7.1 percent over the year to 2.02 billion U.S. dollars in July on growing demand from the United States and China, South Korea's top two trading partners.

Auto part exports to North America and Asia grew 7.2 percent and 17.9 percent, respectively, with those from the European Union and Latin American nations rising 2.8 percent and 5.1 percent each.?