Seven of Hyundai's car plants in Korea are coming to a grinding halt as parts supplies from China dry up because workers there are grounded by coronavirus.

Hyundai makes 20 passenger cars, trucks and buses at the plants, and the assembly lines in Ulsan stopped running on Tuesday, while others in Jeonju will wind down on Wednesday and Thursday. Hyundai plans to idle the plants for around 10 days, but it is uncertain whether they can resume if parts factories in China remain closed.

A longer closure could force affiliate Kia and remaining Hyundai plants to halt production as well, which would impact thousands of subcontractors and parts suppliers in Korea.

The key part that triggered the closure here is the cable harness, a bundle of wires that connect various circuits in a car. They are bulky and need to be custom-made for different models, and automakers keep only one or two weeks of inventory. There are local suppliers, but Hyundai and Kia source 75 percent of their cable harnesses from China because they are cheaper.

