The decision of Dacia"s management to halt production for two weeks, between January 26th and February 8th, comes as a result of the auto market drop, in particular that of the Romanian market. In a press release, Dacia"s representatives announced that production will resume on February 9th, and the employees currently under technical unemployment will receive 85% of the individual gross salary for the period in question.
The management of the company claims that the step has been taken in order to adapt Dacia"s production to the drop in orders as a result of the decline of the auto markets. The new car market has seen a dramatic drop in sales starting in October 2008. According to the press release, the crash of the Romanian market has been caused by the effects of the financial market, which has reduced access of the clients to loans, the flood of imported cars and the difficulty the clients have in making purchase decisions, given the possibility of a revision of the pollution tax.