Supplier Valeo is seeking buyers for two car parts plants and a research and development centre in France amid a Europe wide decline in car production, a media report said.

The two plants no longer have sufficient business and the research centre would have required an expensive overhaul to remain in operation, a Valeo spokesman told Bloomberg. All options were on the table for the sites, he said, including selling them to Chinese buyers. He added the top priority was to protect jobs. About 1,000 people are employed across the three sites.

The spokesman told Bloomberg L’Isle-d’Abeau plant close to Lyon had already been revamped to produce systems needed to electrify cars, bicycles, scooters, motorcycles and other vehicles. Still, there was a drop off in orders as the new technology didn’t bring in enough customers.

Valeo was willing to move some research and development jobs to other sites in the Paris region if needed, the spokesman added.