Domestic, US, and Now India... Hyundai Motor and Kia Come to a Halt

Temporary Shutdown of Hyundai Asan and Kia US Georgia Plants for 5 Days Due to Semiconductor Shortage Amid COVID-19 Impact on India Factory

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] As the semiconductor supply shortage reaches its peak and COVID-19 spreads in some global regions, Hyundai Motor and Kia's domestic and overseas factories have once again shut down.

According to Hyundai Motor and Kia on the 25th, Hyundai Motor will halt operations at its Asan plant, which produces the mid-to-large sedan Grandeur and mid-size sedan Sonata, until the 26th due to a shortage of electronic control units (ECU) and transmission control units (TCU). Following the shutdown of the Asan plant, Hyundai Mobis' Asan plant, a parts affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group that supplies parts to the Hyundai Asan plant, will also temporarily stop production from the 24th to the 26th.

Earlier, Hyundai Motor had stopped operations of line 52 at Ulsan Plant 5, which produces the compact SUV Tucson and hydrogen electric vehicle Nexo, on the 17th and 18th of this month, and on the 18th, it halted operations at Ulsan Plant 3, which produces the compact sedan Avante and small SUV Venue. The Asan plant had also closed for four days over two occasions last month, on the 12th-13th and 19th-20th.

To make matters worse, Hyundai Motor's India plant in Tamil Nadu state will also stop operations for five days starting from the 25th. The daily confirmed COVID-19 cases have reached hundreds of thousands, and more than 10,000 deaths occur daily, indicating a severe spread of the virus. A Hyundai Motor official explained, "We decided to temporarily suspend plant operations in accordance with the local situation and Indian government guidelines."

Kia's situation is no different. Kia's Georgia plant in the United States will shut down for two days on the 27th and 28th (local time). The Georgia Kia plant, opened in 2009, is a complete vehicle production plant with an integrated production system including pressing, body, painting, and assembly. Currently, the Georgia plant produces models such as the K5, Sorento, and Telluride. In 2019, cumulative production exceeded 3 million units, and 76,000 units were produced in the first quarter of this year alone. Previously, Kia also halted production at the Georgia plant on the 8th and 9th of last month to respond to the semiconductor supply shortage and stabilize the supply chain. Domestically, the Gwangmyeong Soha 2 plant, which produces the Stonic and Pride, was shut down on the 17th and 18th of this month due to a shortage of airbag control units (ACU).

As the semiconductor supply shortage shows no signs of easing and automakers worldwide continue to halt factory operations, Hyundai Motor and Kia are also highly likely to continue suspending production.

Professor Pil-soo Kim of the Department of Automotive Studies at Daelim University said, "Since the semiconductor supply shortage is expected to continue until this fall, factory shutdowns will also persist. To resolve the increasingly strategic issue of automotive semiconductors, it is a time when industry-academia role sharing and labor-management cooperation are necessary to improve productivity."

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