The company told the STA on Thursday it was finishing a rough year, marked by a strong decline in sales on the European market, especially in France.

The plant first responded to the 20% decline in orders in 2012 by cutting shifts and later also managed to strike a deal with the trade union on adjusting working time to avert lay-offs.

On the other hand, the company also started preparing this year for production of new Renault-Daimler models, which are expected to go into serial production in 2014.

This project is expected to revive production and increase employment already in 2013.