[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s domestic automobile production is declining, but has been offset by a rise in overseas production, industry data showed on July 21.

In 2015, the country’s overall auto output came to 4,555,957 units, down 2.2 percent from 4,657,094 in 2011, according to the data from the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.

South Korea and Germany were the only countries among the world’s top five automaking countries whose annual output dropped.

China, the world’s largest automaker, had its production spike 33 percent to 24,503,326 over the cited period, while the No. 2 automaker, the United States, also had its auto output surge 39.9 percent.

Japan, the world’s third-largest automobile producing country, manufactured 9.278,321 vehicles in 2015, up 10.5 percent from 2011.

The drop in domestic output, however, was mostly attributed to a sharp increase in overseas production by the country’s five automakers.

According to KAMA, overseas production of local industry leader Hyundai Motor and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors jumped 40.5 percent to 4,411,617 cars in 2015 from 3,140,683 in 2011.

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