Hyundai Becomes First Firm to Suspend Operations Outside China Citing Coronavirus Outbreak

South Korea based automaker Hyundai Motor (005380) announced on Monday that it will be suspending its operations in South Korea following outbreak of Coranavirus in China.

South Korea is the biggest manufacturing base for the automaker however, Hyundai imports more parts from China than any other automaker globally.

The company posted its quarterly results recently terming the quarter as the most profitable in a period of 2 years, Hyundai attributed the good performance in the quarter to increasing sales of sport utility vehicles, the common being Kona and Palisade.

Over the past weekend Hyundai ceased production of the Palisade due to a shortage of components coming from China.

Hyundai spokeswoman said most of Hyundai’s plants in South Korea will suspend operations completely starting from Feb 7.  She added the schedules for suspensions will vary depending on the production line.

Hyundai has its subsidiary Kia Motors (000270) which collectively are ranked the world’s No.5 automaker. The spokeswoman said both firms do not keep large stocks of components imported from China.

Apart from its plants in South Korea, Hyundai also has other plants in Europe, US, Middle East among other counties. Its production from South Korea only accounts for 40% of its total global production.

Other global automakers have also suspended operations in China among them: Ford Motor (F), Tesla Inc. (TSLA), Nissan Motor Co. (7201), Honda Motor (7267) and PSA Peugeot Citroen (PEUP).