A warning sound is coming out saying that Hyundai Motors and Kia, which are currently operating normally, may be affected sooner or later, while global automakers have started to cut production successively, such as shutting down factories due to a lack of automotive semiconductors. As the stocks that have been secured so far are rapidly exhausted, anxiety about whether Hyundai Motors and Kia are going to cut production is increasing. Hyundai Motor Company and Kia entered an emergency management system, such as reviewing production adjustments on a weekly basis.
According to the automobile industry on the 23rd, GM Korea has cut production at Incheon’s Bupyeong 2 plant by less than half since the 8th, and Hyundai Motor and Kia also found that if the supply shortage of semiconductor parts persists, some shutdowns are inevitable.
Currently, Hyundai and Kia differ by vehicle type, but they are putting 100 semiconductors for vehicles in one vehicle, and they are supplied in the form of parts from Bosch Continental Mobase Vitesco and LG Electronics. Although we are discussing with these global partners to secure inventory of semiconductors for vehicles, some semiconductors are in a state of poor supply and demand due to a global production shortage. An industry insider pointed out, “As even Hyundai Motors and Kia, which occupy 83% of the domestic automakers, face a crisis, and if the production stoppage of five domestic automakers becomes a reality, it could have a chain impact on our partners.”
Hyundai Motor Company and Kia are currently engaged in direct negotiations without entrusting the task of securing vehicle semiconductor stocks to only their primary partners. In particular, it is known that the production volume was adjusted according to the supply and demand situation of parts, such as checking the inventory, assessing the risk on a weekly basis, and establishing a production plan for the borrower. Hyundai Motors said, “We are operating a production line centering on vehicle models that have semiconductor stocks for vehicles,” and “We are continuing production by putting general-purpose semiconductors first in vehicles that are almost out of stock.”
Tensions are spreading in the automobile industry as Hyundai Motor and Kia, which had been considered relatively stable so far, first announced that the supply and demand of semiconductor parts was not smooth. Lee Hang-gu, a research fellow at the Korea Automobile Research Institute, said, “Hyundai Motor and Kia have not accumulated a lot of parts inventory in the past. It is expected to cope with it.” In particular, researcher Lee warned, “As anxiety is increasing throughout the domestic automobile industry, actual crises such as production suspension in March may become a reality.”
Global automakers have been unable to smoothly produce vehicles since the beginning of this year due to unstable supply and demand for automotive semiconductors. Volkswagen shut down its Emden plant in Germany for two weeks last month, and from this month it began to cut production. The Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg, Germany, is also expected to continue production cuts, which started from the end of December last year, until the end of this month. Ford of the United States stopped operating two plants in Mexico and its Saarlouis plant in Germany last month, and GM stopped producing vehicles at some plants in Mexico, the United States, and Canada from the 8th of this month.
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