Hyundai Motor chief encourages employees amid coronavirus crisis

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun sent a letter to employees Tuesday highlighting the group’s all-out efforts to secure safety and minimize business risk under its contingency plan.

Chung said in an email that the group has been “actively cooperating with the government-led measures,” vowing to fully support employees’ safety with “all available resources.”

He added that the group’s affiliates have been monitoring the COVID-19 outbreak closely, seeking measures to minimize business risk from the virus. 

Admitting that some business setbacks due to the COVID-19 are inevitable, Chung said he appreciates the unionized workers’ efforts to overcome the situation. 

According to Hyundai Motor Group, the accumulated loss caused by COVID-19 at its manufacturing plants came to 120,000 vehicles. From Feb. 4 to 7, Hyundai Motor stopped operation of part of its manufacturing lines at the Ulsan plants due to disruption of parts supplies delivered from China. 

On Friday, the group stopped operations of its Ulsan manufacturing plant’s second factory after an employee who works there was confirmed with COVID-19. On Tuesday, a Hyundai Mobis employee was also confirmed of infection, leading to a shutdown of its Mabuk research center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

According to market figures, Hyundai Motor saw a 26.4 percent fall on-year in domestic sales last month at 39,290 units. Its sister company Kia Motors sold 28,681 units in February, which fell by 13.7 percent on-year. 

In February, Hyundai Motor Group saw a 95 percent drop in vehicles sold wholesale in China from the previous month. Some 2,000 Hyundai Motor vehicles and 1,000 Kia Motors vehicles were sold wholesale in China last month, according to the automaker. 

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)