SEOUL, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's automobile export rose last month on demand from eastern Europe and the Middle East, a government report showed Wednesday.

The number of locally-made cars shipped abroad was 174,869 in August, up 2.1 percent from a year ago, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

In terms of value, car shipment inched up 0.5 percent to 2.85 billion U.S. dollars in the month.

It was attributed to solid demand from eastern Europe and the Middle East. Global demand got robust for newly launched sport utility vehicles (SUVs).

Car production advanced 8.1 percent over the year to 296,471 units in August on an early agreement on wage hike between the labor union and the employers as well as the rebounding export.

Auto parts export added 0.5 percent from a year earlier to 1.87 billion dollars in August.

Car sales in the domestic market grew 5 percent to 146,086 vehicles last month on consumption tax cut for vehicles and demand for newly launched models.

Sales of cars made by local automakers gained 4.1 percent to 125,289, with the reading for imported cars advancing 11.2 percent to 20,797 in the month.