Audi has announced it will close its factory in Brussels by the end of February, in the latest blow to EV manufacturing.
The German manufacturer, which is part of the Volkswagen Group, has taken the ‘painful’ decision after unsuccessful efforts to find a buyer for the vehicle-making plant.
The factory will close on the 28 February 2025 with the Brussels Times reporting 3,000 jobs are now at risk.
It follows a series of automotive cost-cutting measures by Volkswagen in Germany, which have seen salaries cut, thousands of staff facing being laid off and multiple factories lined up for closure amid an electric car sales slowdown.
Shuttering the Audi Brussels site also calls into question the future of one of Audi’s flagship electric cars, the Q8 e-tron, which is currently produced at the plant.
The 350,000 sq.ft facility has been manufacturing the Q8 e-tron and Q8 e-tron Sportback since 2022 and is the main producer of the models.
Audi’s decision to close its Brussel’s plant due to falling EV demand puts the future of its Q8 e-Tron models at risk
The Brussels plant produced just 53,555 Q8 e-tron and Q8 e-tron Sportback cars in 2023, which is less than half the factory’s full output capacity
In July, Audi revealed it was ‘considering the early end of production’ of its largest electric car, while shifting attention to its smaller electric SUVs such as the Q4 and Q6 e-trons.
The Brussels plant produced just 53,555 Q8 e-tron and Q8 e-tron Sportback cars in 2023, compared to the 120,000-vehicle annual maximum capacity output.
An Audi spokesperson told Auto Express: ‘Against the background of the intended end of production of the Q8 e-tron model family on February 28, 2025 and current strikes by suppliers at the Brussels site, we have introduced a temporary order stop for the Q8 e-tron.’
The 350,000 sq.ft Brussels facility has been manufacturing the Q8 e-Tron and the Q8 e-Tron Sportback since 2022 and is the main producer of the models
Audi spokesperson Peter D’hoore made the plant closure announcement last week after the company said no alternatives to the worst case scenario conclusion had been found.
Gerd Walker, a board member of Audi AG and head of production told Reuters: ‘The decision to close the Brussels factory is painful.
‘Personally, it was the toughest decision I’ve ever had to make in my professional career.’
The difficult move follows strikes at parent company Volkswagen’s factories after the manufacturer threatened to close three of its plants but didn’t specify which were in jeopardy or how many jobs would be lost as a consequence.
While Volkswagen is still pondering the decision – which would be the first factory closures in its 87-year history – Audi has pulled the plug after its attempts to sell the factory in the last few months haven’t turned up a buyer.
Chinese EV manufacturer Nio was reportedly in talks to buy it, but CEO William Li went on to deny those rumours.
Gerd Walker, a board member of Audi AG and head of production told Reuters the decision to close the Brussels factory is ‘painful’
The exact reason for the closure hasn’t been confirmed but it is likely a combination of ‘long-standing structural challenges’ at the site, as well as high delivery and shipment costs due to its location.
The factory’s close proximity to the city centre also makes restructuring too difficult.
Audi’s announcement sits against a backdrop of slow uptake of electric vehicles on the continent, which the German marque says has led to a ‘global decline in customer orders in the electric luxury class’.
Several thousand workers of Europe’s largest carmaker Volkswagen AG gather during pay-rise protests on the grounds of VW’s largest plant in Wolfsburg, Germany, December 2
It is the first time the company has threatened to close factories in Germany in its 87-year history (Zwickau demonstration pictured)
Sales of VW cars have plummeted in Europe as demand stalls and consumers return to petrol.
Globally, sales in the first three months of the year dropped by three per cent as the sales of petrol motors rose by four per cent.
Volkswagen’s decision to cut 30,000 jobs and introduce a 10 per cent wage cut has led to strikes across its plants in Wolfsburg, Hanover and Zwickau (VW’s EV-only plant).
Across all of Europe, falling EV demand and soaring costs is being felt.
Stellantis – which owns Vauxhall – blamed the UK government’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate for its plans to close its Luton plant in April 2025.
Vauxhall staff are currently holding a two-day protest and a rally from Tuesday 17 December to Wednesday 18 December over Stellantis’ plans to shut its profitable electric van factory in Luton, after unions said the proposal makes ‘no sense’.
The automotive workers’ union Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘Time has now rightly been called on [CEO] Carlos Tavares, whose counterproductive strategy of cutting Stellantis to the bone to artificially inflate profits has clearly failed.
‘The opportunity is now there for Stellantis to prevent the needless destruction of its Luton operations.’
Elsewhere, the boss of Ford’s UK arm has warned that Britain’s car industry is in crisis due to the overwhelming lack of demand for electric cars.
Nissan has also warned ministers that the ZEV mandate will cost thousands of automotive sector jobs in Britain.
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