Shifting Part of Tuscon Production from Korea to U.S.
Hyundai Motor Co. will bring part of passenger car production from its plant in Alabama, the United States to domestic plants. This measure is aimed at resolving work shortages at domestic plants. This will mark the first time that Hyundai Motor will move production from its overseas plants to Korea.
The company recently explained to the labor union that it will transfer production of 70,000 units of the Sonata and the Avante from the Alabama plant to Asan Plant and Ulsan Plant 3 in Korea. Instead, the company decided to hand over some of the compact SUV Tucson production volume from its Ulsan Plants 2 and 5 to the Alabama plant.
The reason for the complicated arrangement is that production volume varies greatly depending on the factory. In particular, the work at Asan Plant has decreased significantly due to sluggish sales of the mid-sized sedan Sonata. Ulsan Plant 3 was directly hit by the discontinuation of the Ioniq and the i30 and sluggish sales of the Venue. In other words, the domestic plants do not have models to mass-produce other than the Avante.
The decision is also a strategy to boost the Tucson's U.S. sales. The SUV is selling about 10,000 units a month in the United States.