Hyundai to again suspend key plant over chip shortage

Hyundai will halt the operation of the Asan plant, 100 kms south of Seoul, which produces the Grandeur and Sonata sedans, on Monday and Tuesday, a company spokesman said over the phone.

Seoul: Hyundai Motor said on Friday that it will again suspend the Sonata-producing plant in South Korea for two days next week due to an electronic parts shortage.

Hyundai will halt the operation of the Asan plant, 100 kms south of Seoul, which produces the Grandeur and Sonata sedans, on Monday and Tuesday, a company spokesman said over the phone.

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Hyundai has seven domestic plants — five in Ulsan, one in Asan and one in Jeonju — and 10 overseas plants — four in China and one each in the US, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Russia, India and Brazil. Their combined capacity reaches 5.5 million vehicles.

The company already suspended the Asan plant on Monday and Tuesday of this week due to the lack of powertrain control units, reports Yonhap news agency.

It expects the four-day suspension will result in more than 4,000 vehicles in production losses.

The country’s biggest carmaker also suspended the No. 1 plant in Ulsan, 414 km southeast of Seoul, which produces the IONIQ 5 all-electric car and the Kona subcompact SUV from April 7-14 due to a parts shortage.

The suspension comes amid a lack of semiconductor parts used in the Kona’s front vehicle camera system and a problem in Hyundai Mobis Co.’s production line, which rolls out the traction motor for the IONIQ 5.

Hyundai expects production losses of 6,000 units of the Kona and 6,500 units of the IONIQ 5.