Ford says its Romanian unit will halt production of the B-Max for 13 days in October, following a planned one week stoppage this month, due mainly to weak European demand. The Ford B-Max is Ford’s No.4-selling model in Europe, according to JATO.

Ford, which took over struggling carmaker Automobile Craiova in 2008, began production of its B-Max subcompact minivan at the plant last year. It now roughly produces 370 cars a day and 1,000 engines.

“We’re confident these are temporary measures and that the situation will improve as European vehicle sales will start to slowly recover,” said Ford Romania spokeswoman Ana Maria Timis. “Depending on the market’s evolution, we will also adjust our [production] volumes in November/December.”

More than half of Ford Romania’s employees, or about 2,500 people, will be affected by the production halt, but will receive 80 percent of their wages during the stoppage.

Ford sold 48,682 B-Max models in the first eight months in Europe, making it the automaker’s No. 4-selling model in the region, according to data from researcher JATO Dynamics.

Overall, Ford’s vehicle registrations fell 7 percent to 596,517 in the first eight months in EU and EFTA markets in a total market down by 5 percent, according to industry association ACEA.

In July, Ford lifted its 2013 guidance to an unchanged pretax loss in Europe of about $1.8 billion from $2 billion. The U.S. automaker recently closed two ancillary plants in England and plans to shut its factory in Genk, Belgium, at the end of 2014.