Labor Union Opposed to the Plan
Hyundai Motor Co. plans to produce the all-new 2022 Tucson SUV model in the United States as well as in Korea. The company disclosed the plan during a new Tucson premiere event held in Beverly Hills, California, on Nov. 9 (local time)
The plan is intended to better meet demand for the Tucson, the bestseller among Hyundai models in 2019 and 2020.
Hyundai plans to launch the new Tucson in North America in the fourth quarter of 2021. If the new Tucson is produced in the U.S., Hyundai Motor's Alabama plant will produce five models -- the Avante (local name: Elantra), the Sonata and the Santa Fe, the Santa Cruz pickup truck and the new Tucson -- in 2021.
However, resistance from the labor union is a variable. Hyundai Motor's labor union already stressed in a newsletter in May that transferring production of a model to an overseas plant is a matter that must go through the Job Security Committee in accordance with a collective bargaining agreement. "It is impossible to move production of the Tucson to an overseas plant at a time when we need to take some work from overseas plants," the labor union said. "The Tucson is a strategic export model and is directly related to the job security of union members."
The management of Hyundai Motor, on the other hand, says that Tucson's U.S. production is not an issue that affects unionists’ job security. Global demand for the Tuscon, including that of North America, exceeds the production capacity of domestic plants, and U.S. production only responds to excess demand and does not affect their job security, the management says.
The Hyundai Motor management reportedly notified the union of its plan to produce the new Tucson in the United States on Nov. 10. The labor union's response is expected to determine the fate of the company’s plan to produce the new Tucson in America.