Hyundai Motor has announced it is halting production at its US plant in Alabama this week due to the global semiconductor shortage.
South Korea’s largest automaker said it is stopping operations at its Montgomery in Alabama for four days – from Tuesday till Friday of this week.
This follows a three-week shutdown at the same plant in June and July due to the global chip shortage and also to carry out routine maintenance.
The plant has the capacity to produce 400,000 vehicles per year, including the Sonata and Elantra passenger cars and the Santa Fe and Tucson SUVs. It recently began producing the Santa Cruz pickup truck.
The company’s nearby engine plant has a production capacity of 700,000 units per year, which it also supplies to Kia’s vehicle assembly plant in the USA.
Earlier this week, Hyundai celebrated production of its five millionth vehicle at the plant since it was first opened in May 2005.
The company’s US sales rebounded by 44% to 475,635 units in the first seven months of 2021 from 330,274 units in the same period of last year.