供貨商風波導致現代汽車股價下挫

Hyundai Motor shares continued to slide on Friday as the group BAttled with its China joint venture partner over supplier strategy, and following a drop in sales in its most important market.

週五，現代汽車(Hyundai Motor)的股價繼續下挫，原因是該公司與中國合資夥伴在供貨商戰略上發生了分歧，而且此前該公司在其最重要的市場中國的銷量出現下滑。

The shares were down 1.5 per cent at Won136,000 in the afternoon, and had earlier fallen as much as 3.6 per cent.

午盤時段，現代汽車股價下挫1.5%，至每股13.6萬韓元，此前一度下跌3.6%之多。

The South Korean carmaker said on Friday that its joint-venture plant in Cangzhou, Hebei province, resumed operations on Thursday afternoon. This came two days after a German supplier refused to provide parts because of non-payment — the company’s second such incident in recent weeks.

這家韓國車企週五表示，其設在河北省滄州的合資工廠已於週四下午恢復生產。兩天之前，一家德國供貨商因未收到貨款而拒絕向該廠供應零部件，這是數週來現代汽車第二次遭遇此類事件。

Hyundai said talks were continuing with the supplier over the payment issue.

現代汽車表示，其正繼續跟這家供貨商討論付款問題。

Hyundai is the middle of crisis in China, its biggest market, amid a consumer backlash against South Korean products following the controversial installation of a US missile shield in South Korea.

現代汽車在其最大市場中國陷入一場危機。其大背景是，韓國不顧爭議部署美國導彈防禦系統後，中國消費者對韓國產品進行了抵制。

Hyundai and its affiliate, Kia Motors, ranked third in China by sales until last year. However, in the first eight months of this year, shipments by Hyundai’s joint venture in China slid more than 40 per cent over the same period last year, according to Daiwa Capital Markets.

去年，現代汽車及其關聯企業起亞汽車(Kia Motors)在中國市場的銷量排在第三位。但大和資本市場(Daiwa Capital Markets)的數據顯示，今年頭8個月，現代汽車在華合資公司的發貨量同比下滑逾40%。

The group’s China troubles have alarmed investors in Hyundai and Kia. Their parts-making affiliates Hyundai Mobis and Hyundai Wia plunged about 6 per cent on heavy foreign selling on Friday.

現代汽車在中國遭遇的麻煩引起了現代和起亞投資者的不安。兩家公司的關聯公司、零部件生產商現代摩比斯(Hyundai Mobis?)和現代威亞(Hyundai Wia)的股票週五遭遇外國投資者強力賣出，股價下跌了約6%。

Hyundai Motor has lost about a fifth of its market capitalisation since mid-June, shedding $6.8bn in value, according to Bloomberg data.

彭博(Bloomberg)數據顯示，自6月中旬以來，現代汽車的市值約蒸發了五分之一，縮水68億美元。

The joint venture’s rapidly deteriorating commercial situation has frayed relations with Hyundai’s local partner, BAIC Motors.

現代汽車在華合資企業商業狀況的迅速惡化，令現代汽車與其中國合資夥伴北汽(BAIC Motor)之間的關係緊張起來。

BAIC is pressuring Hyundai to shift to cheaper Chinese parts suppliers to cut costs. But Hyundai wants to stick to existing suppliers, mostly South Korean companies including its affiliates, to ensure quality, analysts said.

北汽正敦促現代轉向價格更低的中國零部件供貨商，以削減成本。但分析師表示，現代想繼續跟現有供貨商（主要是韓國公司，其中包括現代汽車的關聯公司）合作，以求保證產品質量。

BAIC is fed up with Hyundai’s “greed and arrogance” over the supplier issue, according to the provocative state-backed Chinese daily Global Times. “Officials at BAIC are very determined to solve the issue once and for all, even if that might risk losing the JV,” the newspaper said on Wednesday, quoting an unnamed insider.

官方背景、喜歡挑起爭執的日報《環球時報》(Global Times)稱，北汽在供貨商問題上已經受夠了現代的貪婪和傲慢。該報週三引用一位不具名內部人士的話稱，北汽高管決心一勞永逸地解決這個問題，即便可能要冒失去這家合資企業的風險。

Hyundai declined to comment on the Global Times report, but said its tie-up with BAIC will be maintained, adding that it is “in various talks [with its Chinese partner] to strengthen the competitiveness of our China business”.

現代拒絕評論《環球時報》的報道，但它表示它與北汽的合作關係將得到維持。該公司還稱，它正與（中方合作伙伴）“展開各種討論，以強化我們中國業務的競爭力”。

Most suppliers of Hyundai in China have not been paid since May as BAIC aims to cut its parts bill by about a third, according to people in the industry. Hyundai and Kia plan to provide their struggling suppliers in China with Won250bn ($222m) to shore up the groups’ dwindling liquidity.

業內人士表示，現代在中國的供貨商自5月以來一直沒有收到貨款，而北汽方面希望將其零部件成本降低大約三分之一。現代和起亞打算向它們在中國市場的陷入困難的供貨商提供2500億韓元（合2.22億美元），以提振這些供貨商日益萎縮的流動性。

Chung Sung-yop, analyst at Daiwa, said falling sales in China had led to a divergence in both parties’ supplier strategies as the capacity utilisation rate of Hyundai’s JV plants fell to below 45 per cent in August. Hyundai late last month had to halt output from four factories in China for several days over a payment dispute with a supplier.

大和資本市場分析師鄭承燁(Chung Sung-yop)表示，在華銷量下滑導致合資雙方在供貨商戰略方面產生分歧，8月份，現代合資工廠的產能利用率已降到45%以下。上月末，由於跟一家供貨商發生付款糾紛，現代被迫讓4家中國工廠停產數天。

Mr Chung said the possibility of BAIC terminating its JV with Hyundai remained low, given its huge sunken costs. He estimated the Chinese carmaker has spent about $1bn in building its two latest JV plants with Hyundai in China.

鄭承燁表示，鑑於沉沒成本巨大，北汽停掉其與現代的合資公司的可能性仍然很低。他估計，北汽在修建其與現代的最新兩座在華合資工廠方面，已經花了大約10億美元。