Hyundai Motor and Kia's Factory Operating Rates Below 80% Last Year... Impact of COVID-19

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] Due to the spread of COVID-19, the factory operating rates of Hyundai Motor and Kia fell below 80% last year.

According to Hyundai Motor and Kia's 2020 business reports on the 17th, Hyundai Motor's average global factory operating rate last year was 84.1%, and Kia's was 74.5%. The average factory operating rate of both companies was 79.9%, down 15.4 percentage points from 95.3% in 2019.

The decline in vehicle sales due to the spread of COVID-19 is interpreted as having a negative impact on factory operating rates.

Hyundai Motor's domestic factory operating rate was 92.9%, while the North American factory operating rate was 72.6%, India 74.5%, Czech Republic 72.3%, Brazil 71.7%, and Turkey 68.6%. Kia's domestic operating rate was 85.3%, Slovakia 81.3%, the U.S. Georgia factory 65.9%, and Mexico 51.7%, among others.

Last year, Hyundai Motor and Kia's production volume was 5,338,048 units, a 13.3% decrease compared to 2019. Hyundai Motor's production volume decreased by 15.6% to 3,153,971 units, and Kia's decreased by 9.6% to 2,180,477 units.

Hyundai Motor aims to sell a total of 4.16 million units this year, including 741,500 units in the domestic market and 3,418,500 units overseas, while Kia aims to sell 2.922 million units in the overall market.

The amount Hyundai Motor and Kia invested in research and development last year was a total of 4.7816 trillion KRW, with Hyundai Motor investing 3.1086 trillion KRW and Kia 1.673 trillion KRW, a 0.5% decrease compared to the previous year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.