(Adds quotes from the prime minister in paras 4-6)
VALENCIENNES, France, Nov 25 (Reuters) - The French government will launch a major stimulus plan to revive the flagging economy within the next 10 days, President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Tuesday.
Sarkozy said the plan would include measures to boost the construction and car sectors, especially auto suppliers who have been particularly hard hit by the recent economic slowdown.
"In less than 10 days we will announce a revival plan to save the car industry...and strengthen the building sector," Sarkozy said in northern France, without giving further details.
Speaking later in parliament, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said the measures would include tax initiatives to help car firms, saying they had around one million vehicles in stock.
The government would also make investments to enable companies to create hybrid and electric vehicles, he added.
Coordination with the European Union and the new U.S. administration would be crucial in implementing such a plan to help the global economy, he said.
The European Commission is seeking to get EU states to agree to a broad range of measures, including temporary sales' tax cuts, to pull the 27-nation bloc clear of recession.
France holds the rotating presidency of the European Union and has pushed hard for an EU-wide response to the slowdown following coordinated action earlier in the autumn to ease the financial crisis that brought the banking system to its knees.
Sarkozy said on Monday it was time "to invest massively in infrastructure, in research, in innovation, in education, in training people, because it is now or never".
France has expressed frustration at Germany's more cautious approach to the onset of recession, with Berlin unwilling to commit vast amounts of cash to spurring the economy.
A slew of poor economic data and results over the past month have highlighted the challenge facing Europe, with the continent's car firms already suffering.
PSA Peugeot-Citroen announced last week it planned to cut 3,550 jobs across its sites in France, while Renault has said it will cut 6,000 jobs across Europe.
France's construction industry is also feeling the pinch. Data released on Tuesday showed new housing starts fell 20.6 percent in the three months to the end of October. (Reporting by Yann Le Guernigou, writing by Crispian Balmer; editing by Marcel Michelson)