By Park Jin-hai
Though the Volkswagen scandal left a dent in the carmakers’ image this year, their sales figures have nonetheless grown stronger.
As of November, the total worth of imported autos far exceeded exports of the three local automakers that rank behind Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, according to data compiled by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA), Monday.
Korea imported $8.74 billion worth of automobiles, up 22 percent year-on-year during the first eleven months of this year.
However, GM Korea, Renault Samsung Motors and Ssangyong Motor altogether exported $7.61 billion worth of automobiles, down 8.2 percent, showing a $1.13 billion negative gap between them and the imports.
It is the first time that the value of automobile imports has surpassed that of vehicles exported by the three companies.
Due to the rising popularity of imported cars here, the gap has been substantially narrowing since 2013, according to KAMA.
In 2013, the combined exports posted by the three automakers came to $10.8 billion, far outpacing the $5.5 billion of imported cars. But the $5.3 billion gap narrowed to $1 billion in 2014.
In the meantime, Korea's two biggest automakers Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors shipped $16.6 billion and $14 billion worth of cars overseas during the cited period, respectively.
Industry watchers say that the imported carmakers, armed with aggressive sales promotions, will continue to expand their presence in the domestic market.
Next year, foreign carmakers will launch nearly 50 new models.
The Korea Importers & Distributors Association forecast that total import sales will reach 235,000 this year and more than 255,000 next year, adding some 20,000 to the previous outlook. It will push their market share up to 16 percent in 2016, from 15 percent this year.