Beijing Hyundai confirms that four major factories will be shut down for a week and the annual sales target will be lowered

After the news that Beijing Hyundai's five major factories had stopped production for a week circulated for many days, on August 3, relevant personnel from Beijing Hyundai confirmed to The Paper that its four major vehicle factories had indeed stopped production for a week, but the other party denied that this was due to poor sales.

Previously, several media outlets quoted insiders as saying that on July 28, several major factories of Beijing Hyundai had notified their internal employees, saying, "After today, all employees of Beijing Hyundai, including factories 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, will be on holiday. The holiday will be from July 29 to August 6, and production will resume on August 7." The insider also revealed that the holiday was a bit "inexplicable," "there was no OA notification, and the heads of each department were notified verbally by email."

On August 3, The Paper called Beijing Hyundai's five factories in Beijing's Shunyi, Cangzhou and Chongqing, but no one answered the calls.

Afterwards, the person in charge of Beijing Hyundai's public relations department confirmed to The Paper that the shutdown was true, but it was not at five factories, but at four factories. Because the Chongqing factory, which was just built in August this year, is still in the debugging stage and has not yet been officially put into operation, it cannot be called a shutdown. As for the time, the person also said that it was not from July 29 to August 6, but from July 31 to August 4.

According to insiders, the holiday will not affect employee wages, nor will it affect Beijing Hyundai's subsequent product research and development.

Although Beijing Hyundai explained that "the reason for the suspension was due to high temperatures and summer holidays," the industry generally believes that the most likely reason for the suspension was that Beijing Hyundai's sales in the first half of the year were poor, resulting in overcapacity, so they simply took advantage of the high temperatures to take a holiday to reduce overproduction.

According to the half-year sales data released by Beijing Hyundai, in the first half of this year, Beijing Hyundai's sales fell from 506,000 vehicles last year to 301,000 vehicles, a sharp year-on-year decline of 42.4%.

Public information shows that Beijing Hyundai's fifth largest factory, the Chongqing factory, was originally planned to be completed and officially put into production in early August. The annual production capacity of complete vehicles will reach 300,000 units, and the annual production capacity of engines will also reach 300,000 units. It is expected to produce new models such as the new Reina.

After the Chongqing plant goes into production, Beijing Hyundai's annual production capacity will jump from the original 1.35 million vehicles to 1.65 million vehicles. However, considering that Beijing Hyundai's sales in the first half of this year only reached 301,000 vehicles, Beijing Hyundai's idle production capacity this year may be close to 1 million vehicles.

"Now due to the decline in sales, the Chongqing factory's commissioning will only lead to further overproduction. So we can only take a 'high temperature holiday'," explained Jia Yi, an automotive industry analyst.

With the sharp drop in sales, Beijing Hyundai has said it will lower its sales target for this year. It is reported that Beijing Hyundai will reduce its annual sales this year from 1.25 million vehicles set at the beginning of the year to 800,000 vehicles, a decrease of 450,000 vehicles, and an adjustment of up to one-third. The Paper asked Xue Haozhi, director of Beijing Hyundai's brand communication department, for confirmation, and he said he was not aware of the situation and had not made it public. The relevant person in charge of Beijing Hyundai's public relations department told reporters that there were internal adjustments, but the specific figures were not made public.

Regarding the adjustment of sales volume, the head of Beijing Hyundai's public relations department explained, "The overall market is not good this year, and the adjustment of purchase tax has caused the joint venture brands to generally develop poorly. Beijing Hyundai has been greatly affected, and its sales volume has been hit even harder. However, the focus of this year's work is to adjust the operating pressure of dealers and improve quality, so the inventory volume has decreased in the first half of the year, and the terminal registration volume is higher than the wholesale volume."

According to a person from Beijing Hyundai's marketing department, in the second half of this year, Beijing Hyundai will launch new models of the ix35 and Reina, as well as a pure electric vehicle. With the adjustment of the rhythm of new products, Beijing Hyundai is expected to save its sales dilemma in the second half of the year.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.