Kia Motors plans to suspend operations in three factories in South Korea, in light of declining exports to Europe and the United States due to the outbreak of the Corona virus.
According to Reuters, the company has told its South Korean trade union that it wants to suspend operations at three of its domestic factories.
A union official said the union has yet to decide whether to agree to the plan under which operations will be suspended from April 23-29, because salary negotiations are ongoing.
The company said in a statement that Kia Motors is currently reviewing the suspension of some of its factories in Korea in response to the decline in global demand due to Covid-19. However, no decision has been taken at this time.
Hyundai Motor suspended its Tucson sports car production line in the southeastern city of Ulsan from April 13 to 17.
Hyundai and Kia Motors have suspended work in most of their factories outside South Korea and China, with the Coronavirus spread rapidly outside Asia.
Government restrictions on movement to slow the spread affect consumer spending worldwide.
South Korea's exports during the first 10 days of April fell 18.6 percent from the same period a year earlier, well below the jump of 20.8 percent from April 1-10.
Exports of cars and auto parts during that period fell 7.1 percent and 31.8 percent, respectively.
