As the COVID-19 infections spread, the "shutdown" period at Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors' plants in the United States has been extended.
A Hyundai Motor official said that its Alabama plant in the U.S. will be shut down until May 1, considering reduced demand for automobiles and safety of employees.
The Alabama plant stopped production on March 18 after one employee tested positive for COVID-19. Recently, one employee died of the disease.
The shutdown period for Kia Motors' Georgia plant in the U.S. has also been extended to April 24. Kia's initial shutdown period was from March 30 to April 10.
Hyundai Motor's Brazilian plant, which was stopped on March 23, was scheduled to be shut down until April 9, but it has been extended to April 24.
As economic activities across the U.S. are suspended, Hyundai and Kia's U.S. dealer network is virtually paralyzed.
"As the spread of COVID-19 continues in the U.S., it is unclear when dealer network operations will resume," an industry source said. "We need to wait and see what happens after mid-April when COVID-19 reaches its worst level in the U.S."