Hyundai Motor Temporarily Halts Domestic Production of Ioniq 5 and Kona EV Again

Ioniq 5 being assembled on Hyundai Motor's Ulsan production line

Hyundai Motor Company will once again temporarily halt domestic production of its electric vehicles Ioniq 5 and Kona EV.

According to the automotive industry on the 17th, Hyundai plans to suspend operations and shut down Line 12 (producing Ioniq 5 and Kona EV) at Ulsan Plant 1 from the 24th to the 30th. Initially, Hyundai was operating the production line despite having no electric vehicles to assemble, enduring an empty conveyor belt known as 'gongpichi.'

This is attributed to a significant drop in orders in April due to the removal of subsidies or the imposition of tariffs in key markets for Hyundai's electric vehicles, such as Germany and other European countries, Canada, and the United States. Hyundai has been offering interest-free benefits by model in Canada and the U.S., and contract deposit support benefits in Germany and the United Kingdom to recover performance, but these measures reportedly have not been very effective.

Meanwhile, Hyundai had previously halted production of the Ioniq 5 and Kona EV for about five days in February due to the electric vehicle chasm (temporary demand slowdown).