Hit hard by the sluggish domestic demand and labor disputes, Hyundai Motor saw the output of its domestic factories fall by 7.2 percent.
According to Hyundai Motor's production and export performance data acquired exclusively by The Korea Economic Daily on July 16, the company exported 596,111 units in the first half of this year, down 10.4 percent or 67,526 units from 663,637 units a year ago. This is the first time for the company to suffer a decline in exports since 2009 when its shipments plunged due to the global financial crisis.
The company explained that the export decline is blamed mainly on the troubled production caused by the union's resistance to overtime work on weekends. During the 13 weeks starting from March 9 to June 1, the union refused to work on weekends, causing a stoppage in production of 83,000 units.