Chevrolet Trax, subcompact sport utility vehicle assembled by the Korean unit of U.S. automaker General Motors Co. (GM Korea), is expected to become Korea’s No.1 export car model for the second year in a row.

According to automobile industry on Sunday, exports of GM Korea’s Chevrolet Trax SUVs amounted to 233,503 units during January-November this year, 7.4 percent higher from the same period a year ago and largest among all car models manufactured in South Korea.

Market experts estimated the outbound shipments of Chevrolet Trax would top 250,000 units for full 2017 considering the current growth rate and become the country’s most exported car model for the second consecutive year. Last year, Chevrolet Trax dethroned Accent, Hyundai Motor Co.’s long-time favorite subcompact sedan to become the country’s top exported car after delivering 240,351 units to overseas markets.

Chevrolet Trax is assembled at GM Korea’s Bupyeong plant, west of Seoul, and shipped out to nearly 60 countries across the world with exports to Europe and the Americas making up 90 percent or more of its total shipments. In 2016, a total of 79,016 units of Chevrolet Trax were sold in the United States alone and became the third best-selling compact SUV in the American market.

Following Chevrolet Trax, Hyundai Motor’s compact SUV Tucson is expected to become Korea’s second-most exported car model this year. It is reported that the Korean automaker sold about 190,000 units of Tucson in the overseas market during January-November.

Outbound shipments of Hyundai Tucson was the fifth largest last year but has grown rapidly this year thanks to strong global demand for SUVs.

Hyundai Motor’s compact sedans Avante and Accent continued to fare well abroad while small crossover SUVs Sportage and Soul made by Kia Motors Corp., Hyundai Motor’s affiliate, as well as Japan-based automaker Nissan’s crossover SUV Rogue produced in Korea joined Korea’s top 10 export car model club in the cited period. Among them, Chevrolet Trax and Hyundai Tucson are expected to be the only car models that would be sold 200,000 units or more abroad this year.

By Kang Young-woon and Cho Jeehyun

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