The sales of seven out of 10 domestic car models in Korea declined in 2016 despite the domestic car market growing 0.6 percent last year from a year earlier.

A few popular models led the market growth, but most other models suffered sharp declines in sales year-on-year.

According to data released by the five domestic carmakers, sales of only 18 car models out of 60 increased last year. Commercial vehicle models such as busses and trucks were excluded in the data. The sales of the remaining 42 models, or 70 percent, declined.

For Hyundai Motor, only the G80 and the EQ900 sedan enjoyed growth in sales last year at 10.3 percent and 310.9 percent, respectively. Some 11,148 Ioniq sedans – introduced last January – were sold. The carmaker’s remaining 15 car models saw sales decrease.

The Avante sedan, one of Hyundai Motor’s bestselling models, had a 6.6 percent decrease in sales while the Sonata sedan and the Santa Fe decreased by 24.2 percent and 17.2 percent, respectively. Introduced in September, the i30 hatchback also suffered a 25.9 percent decline in sales.

Hyundai Motor’s sister brand Kia Motors had a 1.4 percent increase in sales last year, but only four models out of 14 enjoyed sales growth.

Last year, sales of the Morning, K3, K5, K9 sedans and the Sportage SUV declined by 15.1 percent, 14.1 percent, 23.9 percent, 40.5 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively. Only, the K7 sedan and the Mohave SUV led Kia Motors’ sales growth last year, marking a 169.5 percent and 73.6 percent increase respectively.

GM and Renault Samsung also showed their dependence on a few popular models in sales. GM Korea, the U.S.-based carmaker’s local sales unit, had its best performance in sales last year since it started business operations in 2002, but the glory was led by a few models.

The Malibu, Spark, Impala, Trax and Camaro had a 123.8 percent, 32.3 percent, 64.1 percent, 9.9 percent and 1,287.5 percent increase in sales, respectively. The remaining seven models in the carmaker’s lineup, however, suffered declines.

Renault Samsung also had excellent sales last year, but the growth was led only by two popular models – the SM6 sedan and the QM6 SUV. Some 57,478 SM6s were sold along with 14,126 QM6 SUVs, but the remaining models suffered a sharp decline.

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The Korean government said recently it will not ask Japan to resume bilateral currency swap talks. Tokyo put the talks on hold as part a “diplomatic retaliation” for the placing of a “comfort woman” statue in front of the Japanese consulate in Busan, symbolizing Japan’s wartime sexual slavery.

Deputy Minister of Strategy and Finance Song Inchang said in a press conference that there would be “no big impact regarding the halt of the Korea-Japan currency swap talks,” although the government “will open channels for discussion, but will not ask the Japanese to resume the talks.” “We regret Tokyo’s move regarding the statue. We believe politics and economics should be handled separately.”

The two neighbors have been haggling over resuming a swap deal of their currencies since last year. The bilateral currency swap began in 2001 at $2 billion and increased rapidly to peak at $70 billion in 2011. However, the volume shrank after former President Lee Myung-bak’s visit to the Dokdo islets in 2012 and expired in February 2015.

Dokdo is Korea’s easternmost territory but Japan also claims sovereignty of the volcanic out crop. In August last year, the two countries agreed to resume talks over the swap, but earlier this month Japan placed the talks on hold after civic activists erected the statue in December last year.

A currency swap is an arrangement between two countries to exchange one currency for another at a specific rate of exchange in a bid to use the more powerful currency to soothe volatility in the market.

A currency swap between Seoul and Tokyo has been widely accepted as beneficial to countries. Korea could have an additional safety net to brace for emergencies, while Japan could use the deal to lift the international image of its currency.

Meanwhile, Song said the government is seeking to extend a swap deal with China, which expires in October this year. In March last year, Korea and China agreed to extend their swap deal “in principle.” However, with Seoul’s decision to deploy a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery on its soil, uncertainties still linger over the extension.

“It is true that there are uncertainties including political issues,” Song said. “Due to the uncertainties, it is difficult to predict what’s going to happen.” Korea and China signed a swap deal in 2009 and extended it twice. The volume of the deal reached $56 billion, which accounts for 51.4 percent of all swap deals Korea has inked with other countries.

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South Korea’s exports sank 3.2 percent in October from the year-ago period to reach $41.9 billion with shipments hurt by lengthy strike at auto-making sites and recall and discontinuation of Galaxy Note7 premium phone. Except for August, Korean exports contracted against the previous year since December 2014, the fi rst time exports that drives the economy has been sluggish for so long.

Refl ecting poor domestic demand, imports in October slipped 5.4 percent year-on-year to $34.8 billion. The nation as result recorded a trade surplus of $7.2 billion last month, a black fi gure for the 57th consecutive month, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Tuesday.

Exports of automobiles fell 11.8 percent year-on-year and outbound shipments of wireless electronics devices tumbled 28.1 percent, the biggest drop since July in 2012 hit by the exit of Galaxy Note7.

By item, exports of semiconductor, vessels and computers have increased. Shipments in petrochemical and steel products, automobiles, petroleum products and electronic appliances improved.

Shipments of fl at panel displays and computers were strongest for the year, recording $2.38 billion and $790 million, respectively. Exports of cosmetics reached $400 million, the second largest monthly export amount in the nation’s history.

By nation, exports to China came to $11.1 billion, the largest for the year. The fi gure is down 11.3 percent from the same period of last year. Exports to Vietnam have continued to rise and those to the European Union, Southeast Asian countries and the Middle East have turned upward. Exports to the U.S. and Japan remained soft.

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