PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) -- South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. said Wednesday it is cutting work hours at its Czech Republic plant because of falling European car demand.
The company said it is shortening its normal five-day work week by one day at its first production facility in Europe.
The company said in a statement the measure will take effect this week and continue at least until the end of January. Workers will receive just under 70 percent of their salaries during the scaled-back hours.
Kim Eok-Jo, the company's president, said the move was "the only realistic solution given the situation on the European car markets."
The plant near the eastern town of Nosovice is designed to produce up to 300,000 cars a year by 2011 for European markets. The plant is expected to employ 3,400 workers when running at full capacity, but only 1,800 people are working at the plant that opened in November.
Czech Republic's auto industry has been hard hit by the global economic downturn. The country's largest exporter, Czech carmaker Skoda Auto AS, a unit of Germany's Volkswagen AG, has adopted a similar measure to that of Hyundai.
