GM Korea and Renault Samsung’s domestic sales both surpassed 3 trillion won last year for the first time in both the companies’ history, with GM reaching 3.4 trillion won in sales and Samsung at 3.1 trillion won. SsangYong Motor recorded 2.5 trillion won in revenue.

On the other hand, the total domestic sales of imported cars fell about 6.1 percent last year.

According to sales data, Audi Volkswagen Korea -- following its damaging diesel emissions scandal -- was the biggest contributor to the decline in sales of non-domestic brands, recording a 50.9 percent loss. Audi Volkswagen Korea totaled only 1.3 trillion won in sales compared to 2.8 trillion won in 2015.

Porsche and Chrysler Korea also recorded losses of 10.3 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

However, leading Korea’s imported car brands was Mercedes-Benz Korea, which saw a 20.6 percent increase last year, recording sales of 3.7 trillion won. Rival German automaker BMW Korea’s sales were up 7.7 percent in 2016, raking in roughly 3.9 trillion won last year -- the first time the company exceeded 3 trillion won in sales.

While the average revenue per unit of the country’s five leading domestic automakers sales in 2016 was roughly 25.9 million won, the average revenue per unit of Korea’s eight leading imported car companies far exceeded that of their domestic rivals at 43.7 million won per vehicle, which was 17.8 million won higher than local brands.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)