Hyundai Motor cuts overtime for 1st time in decade

ULSAN, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- All domestic plants of Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's
top automaker, started cutting daily overtime Monday on sluggish auto demand,
company officials said.

It is the first time Hyundai Motor has slashed overtime at all domestic lines
since 1998, when South Korea's economy was teetering on the edge of collapse in
the face of the Asian financial crisis.
The decision to cut daily overtime works at Hyundai's seven plants at home is
likely to reduce a combined monthly output by 10 percent, some 150,000 vehicles,
a company official said.
Hyundai Motor, along with its affiliate Kia Motors Corp., controls more than 70
percent of the South Korean auto market.
Hyundai has already stopped weekend overtime works at its local plants to cope
with slowing demand overseas and weak domestic consumption.
Last week, the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association expected domestic auto
sales to fall by 14 percent to 1.1 million units next year, compared with a
projection of 1.25 million units this year.
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