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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, reports Yonhap news agency.

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.

Kia Sonet reported sales of 1.5 lakh units since its launch.

In April, Kia India entered the domestic EV market with 'EV6'. The 'EV6' is the first BEV (battery electric vehicle) from Kia and was unveiled globally in March 2021.

The vehicle is built on Kia's new dedicated EV platform 'E-GMP' and is pegged to offer premium mobility solutions to its customers.