General Motors Co., the world’s largest automaker, will begin selling the Chevrolet Corvette sports car in South Korea this month as the U.S. company seeks to expand sales in overseas markets.

The Corvette Coupe, equipped with a eight-cylinder engine delivering 430 horsepower, will go on sale May 4 starting at 86.4 million won ($76,300), GM’s Korean unit said in an e- mailed statement on Monday. That’s more than 50 percent higher than the car’s sticker price in the U.S.

The coupe will be the ninth model under the Chevrolet brand to be introduced in Asia’s fourth-largest automobile market since last year, when Korea and the U.S. signed a free trade agreement. GM is looking overseas for growth as sales of the Corvette, the best-selling luxury sports car in the U.S., have slumped to about a third of levels five years earlier.

First-quarter deliveries at GM’s Korea unit rose 6.5 percent, compared with a 7.2 percent drop at Hyundai and 7.4 percent decline at Kia, according to data compiled by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association. 

(Bloomberg)