French auto components multinational Faurecia will open a 20 million euro (30.9 million dollar) plant producing exhausts in the eastern Czech town of Karvina as part of a wider shake-up of its Czech business, the domestic CTK news agency reported Sunday.

The new plant should open in the first quarter of 2009 with 300 employees.

Faurecia also plans to recruit an extra 700 workers at its 50 million euro Pisek plant in the centre of the Czech Republic by the end of 2009, where 1,000 workers have been making doors, seats and exhausts since its opening last year.

Jobs at both sites will be offered to workers at two other Faurecia plants in the Czech Republic which will close. The seat cover factories — at Tabor and Pocatky — together employ 564 workers, but cannot compete against cheaper competition from Asia and Africa, the company said.