PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) -- Czech carmaker Skoda Auto AS, a unit of German manufacturer Volkswagen AG, said Monday it plans to halt car production for one week later this month because of a fall in demand in Western Europe.
Skoda spokesman Jaroslav Cerny told Czech public radio that Skoda Auto will stop production in three Czech factories in the last week of October to cut production by around 13,000 cars.
He said the measure was prompted mostly by the stagnation in the Western European car markets.
Skoda Auto is the country's largest exporter. Its sales in the first half of 2008 rose by 17.9 percent to reach 366,666 cars.
Volkswagen, Europe's biggest car maker, owns 100 percent of Skoda Auto, which delivered a record 630,032 cars in 2007.
