(Yicai Global) Aug. 4 -- Beijing Hyundai Motor Co., one of China's largest car manufacturers, has clarified with the media that four of its automobile factories in Beijing and Hebei have halted production for a week, but denied that the suspension is due to poor sales.

The media had previously reported that on July 28 the car company had instructed its staff to take leave from July 29 to August 6 and resume work from August 7.

The group has paused production and allowed staff to take working days off because of the high summer temperatures, Thepaper.cn quoted an insider from Beijing Hyundai Motor's public relations department as saying today. Although some reports indicated five facilities were affected, only four were, she said.

The company's center in Chongqing, which was just completed this month, is still in the debugging phase and has not been put into operation officially. The workers' break was from July 31 to August 4, the insider said. The week off will neither affect the employees' wagers nor product research and development, she said.

Beijing Hyundai Motor sold 301,000 vehicles in the first half, a decline of 42.4 percent from the 506,000 units sold during the same period last year.

With a total investment of USD1.15 billion (CNY7.75 billion), the Chongqing factory has a designed capacity of 300,000 vehicles and 200,000 engines, per information previously released by Beijing Hyundai Motor. The Chongqing hub, the three factories in Beijing and the one in Hebei will make Beijing Hyundai Motor's annual production capacity 1.65 million units.