Foreign-brand cars will see their combined market share surge to 27 percent in Korea by 2020, Marketing Insight, an automotive market research firm, said Tuesday in a report.

The report predicted that foreign brands would continue to expand their market share in the coming years to claim 20 percent by 2016 and 27 percent by 2020.

“Considering the outlook is based on conservative conditions, it is also likely that the 27 percent market share could be reached earlier than expected,” the report added.

Foreign carmakers, led by German brands such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz, have more than doubled their sales over the past five years. In 2013, their combined sales in Korea exceeded 150,000 vehicles.

Their market share reached a record 14 percent over the past nine months. During the same period, the figure for the powerful Korean duo Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors fell to a record low of 65.2 percent.

The report was based on an annual survey that the local research firm carried out between 2005 and 2014 on the car replacement periods and new car purchases of about 100,000 car owners here, said Marketing Insight.

The data showed that the repurchase rate for Korea brand cars declined from 99 percent to 88 percent during that period, while foreign brands saw their repurchase rate surge from 46 percent to 68 percent.

“Customers are fast moving from Korean-made cars to foreign brands. Local carmakers need to make more efforts to elevate customer loyalty and improve product quality,” the report said.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)