German carmakers Opel and BMW said Tuesday they were calling a temporary halt to production, following a fall-off in demand triggered by the global credit squeeze, reported dpa.
Opel announced it was halting production in nearly all its European plants for periods of up to three weeks from October 13.
Luxury carmaker BMW said production at its Leipzig plant in the eastern part of Germany would stop for four days in the last week of October, affecting 2,800 vehicles.
Opel said it would halt production at its plant in Bochum for two weeks from Monday and at Eisenach for three weeks from the same day.
Some 6,800 workers are affected by the move, which the company said was part of a plan to slash vehicle production by 40,000 up to the end of the year.
Opel sold 1.74 million vehicles in Europe in 2007, but this year there has been a dramatic slump in sales, particularly in Spain, Britain and Germany.
"The financial crisis has led to people in Europe becoming more restrained when it comes to buying cars," an Opel spokesman said.
The spokesman said no job cuts were planned, but parts of the workforce would suffer a small loss of income while the production lines were halted.
The only Opel plant in Germany not affected by the closure is the main one at Ruesselsheim, where series production of the new Insignia model is getting under way.
Outside Germany, Opel factories at Gleiwitz in Poland, Ellesmere Port and Luton in England and Zaragoza in Spain will also be closed temporarily.