Hyundai Motor and Kia US Subsidiaries Submit Semiconductor Data to US Department of Commerce

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Hyundai Motor and Kia's U.S. subsidiaries have reportedly submitted semiconductor supply chain data requested by the U.S. government.

According to industry sources on the 10th, Kia's Georgia subsidiary and Hyundai Motor's Alabama subsidiary provided semiconductor information in response to a request from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

This follows the U.S. government's issuance of a survey at the end of September to global semiconductor companies, requesting responses by this date on 26 items including semiconductor inventory, orders, sales, and customer information.

In its response, Kia's Georgia subsidiary stated that the spread of COVID-19 in Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines?where semiconductor manufacturers have production bases?has disrupted the supply of Engine Control Units (ECUs), affecting finished vehicle production. Kia added that production has decreased by about 8% compared to this year's production plan.

However, Kia marked all internally sensitive information such as semiconductor supply volume, inventory levels, and customer data as confidential to prevent public disclosure.

Companies can separate data that can be publicly disclosed from data that cannot, and confidential data is accessible only to the U.S. government.

Hyundai Motor's Alabama subsidiary also submitted data to the U.S. government, but it has not yet been made public. Hyundai Motor and Kia submitted only information related to production in the U.S., and no data was submitted from other subsidiaries, including those in Korea. A Hyundai Motor Group official explained, "The U.S. government directly requested Hyundai Motor and Kia's U.S. subsidiaries to submit the data," adding, "We understand that all data submitted by Hyundai Motor's Alabama subsidiary has been treated as confidential."

Previously, major domestic semiconductor companies such as Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and DB HiTek submitted semiconductor supply chain data requested by the U.S. government. Additionally, some global automakers like GM and BMW also submitted data as semiconductor demand companies.

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