Renault Korea Busan Plant to Switch to Two Shifts from June... New Car Introduction

Renault Korea announced on the 9th that it will switch the working system at its Busan plant to a two-shift system (day and night shifts) starting in June. Previously, since November last year, the plant operated temporarily on a single shift (one shift) system, but it decided to resume the two-shift system after seven months in preparation for the launch of a new car in the second half of the year.

The company plans to unveil a new hybrid mid-size sport utility vehicle (SUV) for the first time at the Busan Mobility Show in June. This will be Renault Korea's first participation in the event in six years, a company with roots in Busan.

Philippe Berthot, French Ambassador to Korea, and key officials from the French Embassy are touring the factory interior together with St?phane Deblaise, President of Renault Korea, and Lee Hae-jin, Head of Manufacturing Division. [Photo by Renault Korea] [Image source=Yonhap News]

The new car launch is scheduled for the second half of this year. Recently, the company changed its name from Renault Korea Motors to Renault Korea, removing "Motors," and replaced the emblem used on vehicles with the diamond-shaped logo (lozenge) used by Renault headquarters.

Production volume is expected to increase with the introduction of the new car. Currently, employees start work at 7 a.m. and finish at 3:45 p.m. Since the system will change from a single shift to two shifts, the plant's operating hours will roughly double, but the company stated that it is still difficult to determine exactly how much production will increase.

Renault Korea's Busan plant has struggled with poor sales, leading to a decline in production volume. It produced over 270,000 units in 2010 and over 260,000 units in 2017, but last year production dropped to only 97,756 units. The plant has an annual capacity of 300,000 units. The annual production volume falling below 100,000 units is the first time in 20 years since 2004 (80,906 units). Following this new car introduction, a second new car development project is planned, and a new electric vehicle produced under external contract manufacturing is also scheduled to be introduced starting next year.

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