Haettel will be arriving at the Novo mesto-based plant from the Valladolid Motores plant in Spain, Revoz said in a statement on Thursday.

Bratož has served as CEO of the Slovenian car maker since June 2008, managing the company through a period of turbulence caused by the recession.

Under his leadership, the company saw its annual production surpass 200,000 vehicles in 2009 and 2010, although this fell to below 150,000 last year due to the slower demand.

Revoz has also remained one of the most efficient plants of the French car maker Renault-Nissan.

The company launched the Twingo II city car under Bratož's leadership and paved the way for launching the production of a new city car in a joint venture with Daimler.

Bratož will now head Renault's industrial subsidiary Oyak Renault, which operates two plans with 6,300 workers, Revoz added in the statement.