Hyundai Motor suspends production at Jeonju for a week

Hyundai Motor, Korea's biggest carmaker by sales, said Monday it will suspend operations at one of its domestic plants this week to control inventories amid the pandemic.

Hyundai plans to suspend the Jeonju plant, which produces commercial vehicles, such as buses and trucks, from Monday through Friday due to weak demand for the models, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The Jeonju plant will resume operations on Jan. 11, the filing said.

Hyundai has adjusted production at its local plants since early last year when the coronavirus outbreak began to affect vehicle sales.

Last month, the company suspended the Asan plant, which produces the Sonata and Grandeur sedans, for two weeks through Jan. 6 due to weak sales of the Sonata sedan.

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 United States, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Russia, India and Brazil. Their combined capacity reaches 5.5 million vehicles.

Yonhap