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China's Car Slowdown Begins to Bite as Hyundai Lets Workers Go

China's Car Slowdown Begins to Bite as Hyundai Lets Workers Go

(Bloomberg) -- As China’s car industry loses its shine, automakers are starting to buckle up for the downward slope with Hyundai Motor Co. announcing it’s letting workers go and is reviewing production plans in the world’s biggest market.

Beijing Hyundai Motor Co., the joint venture between Hyundai and BAIC Motor Corp., is accepting voluntary retirements from employees and reviewing "production optimization" to enhance plant efficiency around the Chinese New Year holidays, Hyundai said in a text message Friday.

Once hailed as the growth engine for the world’s car industry, China’s automobile market last year had its first annual decline in more than two decades as consumers balk at new purchases amid a trade war with the U.S. and a slump in the local stock market. That’s a setback global carmakers already wrestling with cooling sales in the U.S. and Europe, prompting Detroit carmakers to close factories, cut shifts and lay off thousands of workers.

Suzuki Motor Corp., the Japanese manufacturer known for minicars, pulled out of China last year as drivers’ tastes shifted to SUVs and larger sedans. Luxury brand Jaguar Land Rover had to shutter production for two weeks due to sluggish demands in China.

Hyundai, the world’s fifth largest market together with affiliate Kia Motors Corp., has suffered more than many other global automaker in China in recent years. In 2017, Chinese consumers boycotted its products amid geopolitical tensions with South Korea.

--With assistance from Yan Zhang.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sohee Kim in Seoul at skim847@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net, Anand Krishnamoorthy, Ville Heiskanen

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.