Stuttgart - Daimler AG has put thousands of workers at its biggest car plant on short time in a bid to offset a dramatic slump in sales, the head of the employees' council said Monday.

Eric Klemm said two-thirds of the 30,000 employees at the Sindelfingen plant in southern Germany would be affected by the move, which is due to last from January 12 until March 31 in 2009.

Discussions on working hours with employees at other Daimler plants in Germany are also taking place, he said.

Daimler, maker of Mercedes cars, plans to cut back the working week from five days to four and in some cases three days. In addition there will be prolonged breaks before or after public holidays.

The company had already announced extended plant closures lasting up to four weeks over the Christmas holiday period, affecting around 150,000 employees at 14 different locations.

Daimler sales plunged 25 per cent in November compared to the same month of 2007 as the company struggled to cope with the fallout from the global financial crisis. Sales of Mercedes cars were down 28 per cent in the same period.

New car registrations in Germany slumped 17.6 per cent in November to 233,800 vehicles, according to the International Association of Car Manufacturers. (dpa)