As the demand for Hyundai Palisade soars in the US market, the South Korean manufacturer has been struggling to increase its production
As per news reports from South Korea, Hyundai Motor Company is struggling to meet the demand for the Palisade. The SUV’s production is handled by the manufacturer’s Ulsan plant 4 in Korea, which churns out between 6,000 and 7,000 units every month for export to the US market. The demand, however, hovers around 8,000 to 9,000 units a month.
Hyundai has been planning ways to bump up the production of the Palisade by around 20,000 units annually and is considering different ways to go about it. The manufacturer is considering shifting the production of the Staria from Ulsan plant 4 to the Jeonju plant, which would make room for increasing production of the Palisade at the former.
However, the worker’s union at Hyundai’s Ulsan plant is reportedly unhappy with the suggestion of moving the production of the Staria away. The union argues that it should continue with the production of both models, in case the demand for the Palisade drops in the future and the plant struggles to keep running.
Hyundai’s Jeonju plant has been struggling due to supply issues, and it is expecting the transfer of Staria production. The plant is capable of manufacturing 100,000 commercial vehicles annually, but last year, it only produced around 36,000 units. Many employees of said plant have been transferred and job insecurity is rather high.
Hyundai is also considering manufacturing the Palisade at the company’s Alabama plant. Local production in the US will help the company reduce various costs, however, Hyundai Motor Union has stated that production of the SUV in the US is not an acceptable solution.
The Union has reportedly proposed that the Jeonju plant could start production of Palisade to meet the deficit, but the manufacturer has stated that said plant is specialized in manufacturing commercial vehicles and is unsuitable for the SUV.
Prepping the Jeonju plant for Palisade production would take a large amount of time and money, as restructuring would be required. Hyundai Motor’s labour and management are planning to reach a definite conclusion soon as negotiations continue.