Still Exceeding 100%
Despite Hyundai Motor’s global factory operation rate exceeding 100% during the first half of this year, a decrease was observed in some countries, including Vietnam, compared to the same period last year.
According to Hyundai’s semi-annual report on Aug. 16, excluding the Chinese joint venture, the production capacity of global business sites in the first half of this year increased by 4.4% to 1,961,386 units compared to last year. Global factory production performance also rose by 14.4% to 2,002,361 units compared to the same period the previous year.
Domestic factories showed the highest operation rate with an increase of 6.8 points to 107.5%. This was followed by Turkey’s factory at 105.2%, up by 4.4 points, and the Czech factory at 103.1%, an increase of 8.4 points. The factories in India (102.1%) and North America (103.1%) also saw a surge in operation rates exceeding 100% compared to the previous year.
However, Hyundai’s factory in Vietnam, often touted as its Southeast Asian production hub, witnessed a significant double-digit drop in its operation rate due to economic downturns. The operation rate for the first half of this year stood at 58.9%, a drastic drop of 22 points compared to the first half of last year. According to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA), car sales from January to May have decreased by 35% to 113,527 units compared to the same period last year. An industry insider commented, “Although Vietnam’s car market ranks fourth in Southeast Asia, the demand for new cars is rapidly decreasing, and the market is significantly shrinking. Not only Hyundai but also local manufacturers are likely pondering breakthrough strategies.”
The Brazilian factory’s operation rate was recorded at 90.0%, down 2.3 points from the previous year. The Brazilian automobile market is also slowing due to interest rate hikes and high inflation.
The Russian factory, which has been halted due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, was not mentioned in this semi-annual report. Last year, Russian production capacity stood at 99,100 units with an actual production of 42,821 units, recording an operation rate of 43.2%. However, this data was conspicuously missing from the recent report.