WORLD
Hyundai Motor to suspend South Korea production as China virus hits parts supply
Baku, February 4, AZERTAC
Hyundai Motor said it will suspend production in South Korea, its biggest manufacturing base, becoming the first major automaker to do so outside China due to disruption in the supply of parts resulting from the coronavirus outbreak, according to Reuters.
Many global automakers, including Tesla, Ford , France’s PSA Peugeot Citroen and Japan’s Nissan and Honda Motor, have already suspended some plants in China this week in line with government guidelines.
The flu-like virus has killed over 420 people and spread to about two dozen nations, sparking fears for global economic growth and rattling markets, with Shanghai’s stock index losing some $400 billion in market value on Monday.
Hyundai’s decision to power down assembly lines at home could delay its recovery from a sales slump.
The automaker recently turned in its best quarterly profit in over two years and said it was on track for higher profit margins, aided by more sales of sport utility vehicles such as the Palisade and Kona.
Hyundai already stopped production of the popular Palisade over the weekend due to a shortage of components from China.
Most of Hyundai’s South Korean factories will be fully idled from Feb. 7, while some production lines are expected to restart on Feb. 11 or Feb. 12, a union official said, declining to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter.