But the two sides agreed to further discussions tomorrow, and Peugeot officials expressed confidence in a breakthrough.
A spokesman for the Transport & General Workers Union warned that the French car manufacturer would have to back down on plans to introduce Friday night working.
Peugeot said it expected the talks to go on for some time, as there were a range of issues in contention. It said it had offered to give a 17% wage increase to those on a weekend shift pattern in return for an increase in hours from 29 to 35.
Workers at the Ryton plant, pictured above, twice went out on 24-hour strike last month and threatened to escalate the action to an all-out stoppage when they came back from their summer break yesterday.
That action was post poned after Peugeot management agreed to put off the introduction of new working arrangements for three weeks.
The TGWU and the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union had recommended a revised offer from Peugeot that would cut the maximum working week from 39 hours to 36 hours. But the Coventry workforce voted by 1,270 to 1,239 to reject the revised offer because it could involve compulsory overtime and Friday night shifts.
Peugeot has lost production of its top-selling 206 model estimated to be worth more than £12m because of the stoppages.
