SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's automobile export rose in November on demand for environmentally-friendly vehicles such as electric vehicle, a government report showed Thursday.

The number of cars exported in November was 238,357, up 1.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The increase came amid strong demand for environmentally-friendly vehicles, of which shipment rose 12.2 percent over the year to 22,398 units in November.

Shipment of hybrid models, which combines combustion engine and electric generator, fell 1.6 percent, but electric vehicle export more than doubled last month.

Demand for locally-made vehicles increased from North America and Europe, but those from the Middle East, Latin America and Africa declined last month.

Auto production in local factories gained 2.2 percent from a year earlier to 390,573 vehicles in November on solid car shipment.

However, car sales in the domestic market inched down 0.4 percent to 162,748 units. Sales of cars, made by domestic carmakers, shed 0.7 percent, but imported vehicle sales grew 1.6 percent.

The country's auto parts export went down 0.6 percent to 1.95 billion U.S. dollars in the period on weaker demand from Asia and the Middle East.