A growing band of Europe's leading car makers are cutting output as car sales plummet in the wake of the credit crunch.
Opel, part of General Motors, has already closed one German plant, at Bochum, for part of this month and said today that it would halt production at Eisenach for three weeks.
"We're feeling the effects of the financial crisis," Opel spokesman Andreas Kroemer said. "People are holding on to their money and not ordering cars."
In the UK the 2,000 plus staff GM's Vauxhall plant on Ellesmere Port, which produces the five-door Astra, are facing two weeks of "down days" as the company tries to match production to demand. Vauxhall expects to lose around 9,000 vehicles at Ellesmere Port out of a total annual production of 120,000 - 46% of which is exported to Spain, Italy and Germany.
In Luton the GM van plant, which makes the Vivaro model, will have 10 down days this month. Almost two thirds of its production is shipped abroad.
Ford is also planning cuts, curbing production at its Saarlouis plant in Germany.
BMW and Volkswagen's Seat and Skoda subsidiaries are also reported to be curbing output in the face of falling demand.
In the UK Ford has introduced a four day week for workers at the Southampton plant which makes Transits and some 970 employees at the company's stamping plant at Dagenham are also facing short time working.
The car industry is suffering badly from the credit crunch which has hit consumer confidence.
On Monday the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders reported that new car registrations had fallen by more than a fifth last month, following an 18% slump in August.
UK car makers, who export around three quarter of their output, have been hit by the fall in the UK market and a 15% drop in sales in Europe in August.
Unite national officer, Dave Osborne, said: "The credit crunch is clearly affecting the automotive industry and we are concerned about the impact this could have on employment if there is a long recession. Unite is working to do everything possible to minimise down-time across the industry and maximise earnings and employment opportunities for staff in the UK."
Senior industry executives have warned that the outlook for the European automotive industry is bleak and that a quick recovery is unlikely.
"Certainly in the first half (of 2009) it's going to be weak," GM's chief operating officer, Fritz Henderson, said recently, warning the weakness in both Europe and the US could persist for the next 12 months to two years.
"The cutbacks are a logical reaction to the reduced outlook for the fourth quarter," according to Albrecht Denninghoff an analyst at Germany's BHF-Bank. "The recent fall in oil prices is a small support but only underscores the factor that demand overall in the economy will be weak."
In the UK the automotive industry is calling for the government to help the industry by cutting interest rates, reviewing planned changes to vehicle excise duty and providing incentives for drivers to scrap heavily polluting vehicles and switch to new, greener models.
