Hyundai, Kia wholesale figures in China plunge 95 pct last month

SEOUL, March 3 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. said Tuesday wholesale figures at their plants in China plunged 95 percent in February from a year earlier on suspended operations amid the spreading coronavirus outbreak.

Hyundai and Kia sold a total of 3,000 vehicles manufactured in their plants in the world's biggest automobile market last month, sharply down from 60,049 units a year ago, the companies said.

Their global output capacity is 9.35 million vehicles, and their plants in China account for 29 percent, or 2.7 million units, of the total.

Manufacturers in China, domestic and foreign, stopped operations at their plants when China extended the Lunar New Year holiday until Feb. 9 as part of efforts to prevent of the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

The combined sales of Hyundai and Kia fell 4.2 percent to 994,848 units in global markets in the first two months from 1,038,740 a year earlier, according to their sales data.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
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