Chevy Trax becomes Korea's most exported car in 2016

Published : Mar 3, 2017 - 09:59 Updated : Mar 3, 2017 - 09:59

The Chevrolet Trax subcompact SUV was the most exported vehicle in South Korea in 2016, market data showed Friday, indicating strong overseas demand for the car developed and produced here.

GM Korea Co. shipped 240,351 units of the crossover SUV in 2016, according to the data from the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.

The new Chevrolet Trax (Photo courtesy of GM Korea)

The 2016 tally marked an 8.5 percent spike from 221,560 cars shipped overseas in the year before. Also, it was 17.2 times higher than the 13,990 units sold here in the local market.

The Chevrolet Trax, also marketed as the Holden Trax in Australia and the Chevrolet Tracker in Russia and some other countries, is a car largely developed by the GM Korea, the South Korean unit of US carmaker General Motors Co., and is currently shipped to some 60 countries from here.

The car was closely followed by the Hyundai Accent in terms of units shipped overseas.

The Hyundai Accent, a subcompact car from the country's top automaker Hyundai Motor Co., had 238,805 units shipped overseas last year, according to the data.

However, in terms of the number of cars sold in overseas markets, the Hyundai Accent, also marketed as the Hyundai Verna in some countries, overtook the Chevrolet Trax as Hyundai Motor produced and sold some 300,000 Accent cars in overseas markets, according to KAMA.

The Hyundai Avante, globally marketed as the Hyundai Elantra, came in third in the list of most frequently exported cars, with 192,894 units shipped overseas last year.

Hyundai Motor and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp. together had seven vehicles in the top 10 most frequently exported cars in 2016, while GM Korea had two and Renault Samsung Motors Co., the local unit of French automaker Renault S.A., had one. (Yonhap)