Hyundai announces stoppage of production at its Ulsan and Asan plant citing widespread supply chain disruption amid the coronavirus outbreak in China, on Friday. The plant is the largest automobile facility in the world and contributes 44.58pc to Hyundai Motor’s revenues.
Disturbances in Hyundai’s supply chain in China amid the extension of Chinese New Year holiday and the coronavirus outbreak have partially disrupted production of all car models assembled in the plants. Jeonju plant is planned to restart on Feb 10.
South Korea government has requested its Chinese counterparts to help suppliers of Korean automobile companies to resume production and ease the supply chain bottleneck caused by the logistics shutdown to prevent the virus spread.
Honda informed that its three auto assembly plants in Wuhan, the epicenter of Coronavirus oubtreak will remain closed through Feb 13, but other units across China will reopen on Feb 9.
Toyota Motor has halted operation in China until Feb 9 and restricted travel to Hubei province. Tesla Inc was asked to stop work at its Shanghai factory.
Suzuki Motor reported that it plans to source vehicle components outside China as the virus shutdown threatened to hamper the company’s biggest market, India. Suzuki does not sell or produce any cars in China but secures auto-parts for Indian plants from China.