Kia Motors mulls production delay at U.S. plant on low demand

SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Yonhap) -- Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-largest automaker, could delay production at its first U.S. plant amid rising inventories stemming from the U.S.-sparked global financial crisis, a source said Wednesday.

Kia, an affiliate of Hyundai Motor Co., had planned to start mass production at
the $1.2 billion US plant in the southern state of Georgia beginning in 2009, but
is now considering adjusting the timing of production, the source said.
In addition, Kia was mulling a move to slash output at all of its overseas plants
to control rising inventories, the source said, adding the company plans to make
a decision on the matter in mid-December.
Official at Kia's public relations team weren't immediately available for comment.
Kia has plants in China and the Czech Republic.
Kia, together with Hyundai, has already slashed output at its six domestic plants
by reducing daily work hours and shutting down production lines on weekends.
Earlier in the year, Kia had planned to sell 1.69 million vehicles worldwide, but
recently cut the target to 1.6 million amid slumping sales.
Kia's worldwide vehicle sales fell three percent to 133,507 units last month, the
company said on Monday.
On Tuesday, the labor union of Hyundai said the automaker has curtailed
production at all of its overseas plants in reaction to slowing sales.
Like their global peers, Hyundai and Kia are reeling from the worst economic
downturn in decades as the U.S. and European nations fell into a recession and
China's economic growth is cooling.