Talk about a sudden reversal of the situation: less than three months ago, thousands of workers were to be laid off from the factories of auto-maker Renault-Dacia. But now the order book is filled to the point that workers have to come to the assembly line even on Saturdays.

For these Romanian workers, the economic crisis has become a distant memory, because of the German market, explains Renault-Dacia CEO François Fourmont.  “Last year we sold 25,000 Dacia cars in Germany, but this year we have almost the same number of orders in one month as we got in the whole of last year.”

Stimulated by a 2,500 euros trade-in bonus on older vehicles, German consumers have been pouncing on the Logan and the Sandero, models which are sold in Germany for about 5,000 euros. Aimed at conquering emerging markets at first, these cars have proven to be a hit in Europe.

Only two months ago social tensions were strong within the company and massive demonstrations were carried out to protest against Dacia’s plan to cut thousands of jobs. But the abrupt turnaround has restored peace between management and workers.