The Volkswagen Group has not found a buyer for the Audi plant in Belgium. The company will now have to negotiate with the employees of the Brussels plant.
Since the end of October this year, the international press has been talking about the possibility of closing the Audi plant in Brussels. Now everything is official, no buyer has been found for the plant in Belgium, and the company is now forced to negotiate with the approximately 3,000 employees, reports Engine1.
The company was hoping to find a buyer for the plant after the first round of negotiations failed. It seems that the chances of the Belgian plant finding a new owner have dwindled to zero, and closure is imminent. Negotiations will now begin with the approximately 3,000 employees, and layoffs will begin in the next period.
The Audi factory in Brussels will be closed at the beginning of next year
The fate of the Audi factory was decided at the end of July with the announcement that production of the Audi Q8 E-Tron and Q8 E-Tron Sportback models would be stopped. The successors to the E-Tron, Audi’s first zero-emissions model, the SUVs fail to generate enough sales for the German manufacturer.
Another problem that the Brussels factory has, apart from producing cars that are not profitable for Audi, is that it is located very close to the city centre. This is an obstacle to factory upgrade. In addition, operational and logistics costs are very high given the location of the factory.
At one point it was thought that the Chinese manufacturer NIO could take over the Brussels factory from Audi, but this scenario did not materialize Then it appeared that a commercial vehicle manufacturer was interested, but those negotiations were not successful.
Audi looked for ways to save the factory in Belgium. The company talked to 26 potential investors who expressed interest in the plant, but according to the automaker, none of them presented a sustainable business plan.
The plant responsible for the production of the Q8 e-tron electric SUV will close its doors on February 28, 2025.
Source: www.promotor.ro
