Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s No. 2 automaker, said Friday its net earnings for the third quarter plunged 27.2 percent on-year to 657.4 billion won ($619.5 million), due to unfavorable exchange rates that offset strong gains in the total number of cars it sold.

Operating profit also dropped 18.6 percent to 566.6 billion won in the same period, with earnings generated by sales dipping 1.9 percent to a little over 11.41 trillion won, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Kia reported selling 711,833 cars in the three-month period, up a solid 13 percent from 630,048 units sold a year earlier.

With overseas sales accounting for 83.6 percent of its business, the sharp appreciation of the Korean won versus the U.S. dollar, along with the weak Japanese yen, seriously hurt earnings in the three-month period, the company said. A weak yen makes Japanese cars less expensive abroad.

The carmaker, part of Hyundai Motor Group, the world’s fifth-largest automotive conglomerate in terms of sales, said unfavorable exchange rates also nullified the rise in average unit prices of its vehicles. (Yonhap)