SEOUL-- Kia Corp., South Korea's second-largest automaker, said Thursday its sales fell 4.9 percent 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 percent on-year to 45,663 units last month from 47,901, while exports were down 5 percent to 188,891 from 198,867 during the cited period, it said.

From January to May, sales dropped 2.5 percent to 1,159,832 autos from 1,190,045 units during the same period of last year.

Source: Yonhap News Agency