‘Korean carmakers’ plummeting sales in China possibly due to lack of competitiveness, not THAAD’

The lack of competitiveness of Korean carmakers may be the cause of their plummeting sales in China, not the diplomatic row over Seoul’s decision to deploy an US anti-missile system here, a study showed Sunday.

According to the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, Korean carmakers saw their sales in the world’s largest auto market plunging 65.1 percent on-year both in April and May, more severe than what Japanese carmakers went through over a territorial dispute over the South China Sea.

Japanese automakers saw their sales in China drop 41.1 percent in September 2012 and 58 percent in October 2012 compared to the same months the previous year, but their sales quickly rebounded afterward.