Vienna - Austria's government and the country's automotive industry on Thursday agreed on measures to alleviate the effects of the crisis gripping the global car industry.

The measures include prolonging the time that short-time work is subsidised with public funds, as well as funding for innovative research, Chancellor Werner Faymann and Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Josef Proell said after the government's meeting with industry leaders.

"The crisis has fully hit us. More than 7,500 are already working short time," said Dietmar Schaefer, head of the car component suppliers' group within the Austrian chamber of commerce.

Some 175,000 people work in Austria's car parts sector, which heavily depends on German car makers. More than 21 billion euros (15 billion dollars) of automotive products are exported every year, which is a fifth of the country's total exports.

The current economic slump was not "a crisis specific to the Austrian or European automotive sector," but a problem of the entire economic system, Faymann and Proell said, according to Austrian press agency APA. Therefore, broad measures would have to be implemented.

As part of the provisions, companies will be able to receive subsidies for short-time work for up to a year. Laid-off workers will be offered training for new jobs.

In addition, 33 million euros will be earmarked for automotive research.

Magna, one of the world's largest car parts suppliers, has seen orders drop by a quarter, Magna Europe chief executive Siegfried Wolf reported at the meeting. (dpa)