South Korea’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor Co is to suspend all domestic production this week because of a lack of parts due to a coronavirus outbreak in China, it said yesterday.
The global auto industry operates on tight supply lines.
The outbreak has disrupted the supply of parts for Hyundai, the company said.
“Hyundai Motor has decided to suspend its production lines from operating at all of its plants in [South] Korea,” the automaker said in a statement.
The order of suspensions would vary, it said, but all production would cease by the end of the week.
Hyundai operates 13 plants worldwide, including seven in South Korea, and last year sold a total of 4.4 million vehicles.
Its South Korean production amounted to about 1.8 million vehicles, or about 35,000 a week.
The outbreak has disrupted the procurement of auto parts called wiring harnesses, which are mostly produced at Hyundai’s assembly lines in China.
“The company is reviewing various measures to minimize the disruption of its operations, including seeking alternative suppliers in other regions,” Hyundai said.
If successful, production could resume next week, Yonhap news agency cited a company official as saying.
The virus that first appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan — a center for the auto industry in the world’s second-largest economy — has resulted in at least 425 deaths and spread to more than 20 other countries.
It has prompted widespread business shutdowns in China, while airlines around the world have canceled flights, raising concerns about its effects to the world’s No. 2 economy and beyond.
Yesterday’s move came after Hyundai canceled overtime factory hours at the weekend to produce its flagship Palisade sport utility vehicle.
Markets have struggled in the past few days as the WHO declared a global health emergency over the outbreak, with analysts concerned about its effects on global economic growth.
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