Kia Motors plans to suspend operations at three of its domestic factories as the coronavirus outbreak weighs on exports to Europe and the United States.
The message which was delivered to its labour union has not yet decided whether to accept the plan under which operations would be suspended from April 23 to 29 because negotiations over pay are ongoing, a Kia official said.
“The automaker is currently reviewing the suspension of some of its plants in Korea in response to declining global demand due to Covid-19. However, a decision has not been made at this time,” Kia Motors said in a statement.
It would be recalled that Hyundai halted a line producing its Tucson SUV in the southeastern city of Ulsan from April 13 to 17. As at the time of filing this report, Hyundai and Kia Motors have suspended operations at most of their factories outside South Korea and China as the coronavirus spreads fast beyond Asia.
While government restrictions on movement to slow the spread are impacting consumer spending around the globe, South Korea’s exports for the first 10 days of April plunged 18.6 percent from the same period a year earlier, far below the 20.8 percent jump over March 1 to 10. Shipments of vehicles and vehicle components during the period tumbled 7.1 percent and 31.8 percent respectively.
MIKE OCHONMA
