Ioniq 5, which labor and management did not agree on mass production… Will Kia EV6 be okay?

Ioniq 5 Needs to increase production due to the popular blast… Labor-management mass production agreement is still

EV6 is also likely to suffer from semiconductor supply-demand and labor-management negotiations

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kwon Hee-won = Hyundai Motor Company[005380]Kia also announced the EV6 teaser image and announced its full-fledged entry into the exclusive electric vehicle market while the’Ioniq 5’was gaining popularity with the pre-contract sensation.

However, as the production of IONIQ 5 is not expected to be smooth due to mass production discussions with the labor union and semiconductor supply and demand problems, the possibility is raised that such a problem may act as an obstacle to the production of Kia EV6.

According to the industry on the 9th, Hyundai Motor Company is known to feel the need to increase production by about 20,000 units as the Ioniq 5 has received explosive reactions at home and abroad, and is examining the possibility.

On the first day of pre-contracting in Korea, Ionic 5 reached a new record of 23,000 units and reached about 35,000 units in a week, and has already achieved the domestic sales target this year.

In Europe, more than 10,000 people flocked to the pre-contract, and 3,000 units available for reservation were sold out.

Accordingly, Hyundai Motor Company is also feeling the need to increase production of Ioniq 5, but there are many challenges to overcome, such as mass production discussions with the labor union and semiconductor supply and demand issues.

Hyundai Motor’s labor and management have differed in their position over the number of people (Man Hour) in the production line of Ioniq 5, and a mass production agreement has not been reached yet.

Electric vehicles do not need parts such as engines or transmissions, so they need 20-30% less parts than internal combustion locomotives. Ioniq 5, which applies E-GMP, a platform exclusively for electric vehicles, has fewer exhaust lines and wires than the powertrain of an internal combustion locomotive, reducing the number of personnel.

The supply and demand problem of automotive semiconductors is also an obstacle. With the prolonged disruption in the supply and demand of semiconductors, Hyundai Motor’s production line centered on models with semiconductor stocks and weekly inventory checks have raised a sense of crisis.

The Ulsan plant where Ionic 5 is produced also canceled all overtime work at the factory on the 1st due to this effect, and also worked overtime at only some lines last weekend.

Battery supply and demand is also a key issue. Since Ionic 5 is being supplied with batteries from SK Innovation, the supplier must increase battery production in order to increase production.

Meanwhile, Kia also unveiled a teaser image of EV6 (project name CV), the first dedicated electric vehicle on this day. EV6 is expected to be released in Korea as early as July this year.

In the industry, there are also observations that if the Ioniq 5 disrupts production, customers who are concerned about the exhaustion of subsidies for electric vehicles are driven to EV6, leading to a’electric vehicle civil war’. As the release time is late, it is also advantageous that there is enough room to prepare the parts supply and production schedule.

However, we cannot rule out the possibility that EV6 will also suffer similar difficulties to the Ioniq 5, such as the issue of mass production negotiations between labor and management.

In the process of negotiations with the Kia labor union last year, Hyundai Mobis[012330]In response to the establishment of a new eco-friendly car parts plant in Korea, the company has strongly expressed concerns about employment reduction due to electric car production.

It is not free from the semiconductor supply and demand problem, which is expected to be prolonged until the third quarter of this year.

Lee Hang-gu, a researcher at the Korea Automobile Research Institute, said, “In the beginning, you can use the semiconductor inventory from the production of flagship vehicles such as EV6, but if the semiconductor supply and demand problem prolongs, production disruption may occur later.”

Concerns are also raised that the Ioniq 5’cleans up’ subsidies for electric vehicles, leaving no subsidies to be paid to EV6. This is because if all of the pre-contracts for IONIQ 5 are released, it is expected to account for half of the 70,000 electric passenger cars that the government and local governments decided to pay subsidies.

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2021/03/09 15:29 sent