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 Hyundai Motor Cuts Output in India on Slowing Demand (Update1) By Seonjin Cha and Kartik Goyal Dec. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest automaker, began cutting shifts in India as it slashes output to cope with plunging demand. The Indian factory will work in two shifts from today, down from three, spokeswoman Meeyoung Song said by phone in Seoul. The move will reduce output at the factory by about 25 percent. Hyundai follows Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and automakers worldwide in cutting jobs and curtailing output as recessions in Europe, Japan, and the U.S. hurt car sales. The automaker's output in India this year will be about 485,000 vehicles compared with its target of 530,000, Heung Soo Lheem, managing director of the local unit, told reporters in New Delhi. ``My difficulties are increasing as demand is slowing in Europe,'' Lheem told reporters. ``We want strong support from the government to keep our plants in good shape.'' The Seoul-based automaker earlier this month said it's eliminating some temporary staff in India, where it has production capacity of 600,000 vehicles a year. Output at the carmaker's U.S., domestic, Chinese and Turkish factories has also been reduced. India and China are Hyundai's biggest overseas production bases, outside of South Korea. The company today unveiled the i20 small car in New Delhi, mainly targeting exports. Hyundai aims to sell 134,000 i20 cars this year, of which 12,000 will be in India and the rest overseas, the company said in a statement. The cheapest variant of the car will be priced at 479,000 rupees ($9,850) in the Indian market, Lheem said. Prices of India-made cars may be raised from January, he said. Hyundai Motor gained 4 percent to 39,500 won in Seoul today. The shares have declined 45 percent this year. To contact the reporters on this story: Seonjin Cha in Seoul at scha2@bloomberg.net; Kartik Goyal in New Delhi at kgoyal@bloomberg.net; Last Updated: December 29, 2008 03:06 EST |
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