Hyundai to halt U.S. production for 10 days in Q4

SEOUL (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Wednesday it plans to halt production at its U.S. plant for 10 days during the fourth quarter amid a slowdown in U.S. sales due to weakness in the world's top economy.

Hyundai, the world's No. 6 auto maker by sales volume along with its affiliate Kia Motors Corp (000270.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), said its Alabama factory will be shut down for three days in October and a combined seven days in November and December.

"While we are encouraged with the strong sales of the Santa Fe, Sonata sales are down slightly," said John Kalson, production vice president at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama LLC, in a statement.

The Santa Fe is Hyundai's flagship sports utility vehicle and the Sonata is a mid-sized sedan.

Hyundai closed the U.S. factory on Friday and is set to stop operations of the plant on October 12 and October 19, a company official in Seoul said. It has not yet decided when to close in November and December.

The plans remain subject to change as market conditions dictate, the auto maker said.

A slowdown in the U.S. economy is expected to put pressure on U.S. demand for Hyundai cars, and the fallout from the subprime mortgage sector is unlikely to diminish soon, analysts said.

In August, Hyundai cut its U.S. sales target for this year to 510,000 vehicles from the previous 555,000, and Steve Wilhite, chief operating officer of Hyundai Motor America, left the company last month.

Hyundai sold 358,407 cars and light trucks in the United States in the first nine months of the year, down 0.2 percent from the same period a year earlier.