The sales of imported cars rose about 20 percent in the first 11 months of this year on the back of growing popularity of diesel-powered cars, industry data showed Tuesday. According to the data, 144,092 imported cars were sold in the country in the January-November period, surpassing last year's total sales of 130,858 units. The sales are expected to reach as high as 157,000 in this year's final count.