French carparts firm Faurecia will shut most of its 37 plants in France for most of the month of December, in response to falling demand from carmakers and the car sales slump, a company source said.

 

The group, majority-owned by PSA/Peugeot-Citroen, employs 17,000 staff in France, the vast majority of which work on industrial sites. Faurecia declined to comment.

 

Fellow car parts manufacturer Valeo said on Thursday it would shut most of its sites in France for two to three weeks in December in response to falling demand from carmakers.

 

Earlier this week, the European Commission put forward a 200 billion euro ($258.8 billion) stimulus package to help fight recession across the region, including support for the flagging car industry.

 

Carmakers are battling falling sales, as the financial crisis and worsening economic climate batter consumer confidence, putting customers off making big purchases.

 

European new car registrations fell 14.5 percent in October, the sixth consecutive monthly fall. Registrations are down 5.4 percent in the first 10 months of the year.

 

In France, Peugeot and Renault have both already announced production cuts for the fourth quarter in an attempt to reduce stocks of unsold vehicles left at the year-end.

From: Automotive News Europe