The production line of Hyundai Motor's Ulsan plant No. 5 came to a halt on Feb. 4 as the supply of Chinese parts was halted due to the outbreak of new coronavirus infection.
According to Hyundai Motor, production of one of the two lines at its fifth plant in Ulsan has been suspended since early in the morning.
The line that stopped operations is a line that produces three models -- the Genesis G90, the G80, and the G70. The FCEV Nexo and Tucson, which are assembled from the next line, are being produced normally.
Among the Genesis models, the GV80 sports utility vehicle, which was launched this year, is currently being produced at its second plant in Ulsan as it still has parts in stock.
Hyundai Motor and other South Korean automakers are facing a production halt in turn due to the exhaustion of their "wiring harness" inventory, dubbed a bundle of wires.
Hyundai Motor is discussing countermeasures with its union, anticipating that many vehicles will suffer production disruptions due to a lack of parts stock, although there are differences according to models.
Kia Motors has also started controlling speed of production by reducing production of its vehicles due to supply problems of wiring harnesses at its plant in Hwaseong and Gwangju.
However, it is said that Kia will not be able to suspend production until this week due to better inventory conditions than Hyundai. However, Kia Motors is also likely to shut down its production lines after this week due to inventory exhaustion.
Ssangyong has already decided to close its Pyeongtaek plant from the same day through Feb. 12. This is due to the extension of shutdown of Chinese factories that supply wiring harnesses.
GM Korea and Renault Samsung Motors, which canceled all overtime work at their domestic plants over the weekend, say there is no problem in normal operation of the plant yet.
