The reactions under the weblog about the planned closure of Audi Brussels were pessimistic. Too expensive, poorly located and therefore uninteresting for the Chinese was the consensus. But look, miracles still happen, because according to the Belgian newspaper De Tijd, Nio is currently preparing a takeover bid. Glimmer of hope Facts first. Officially, there is still no mention of a possible lifeline from China. According to the newspaper, Nio is one of the candidates to take over the Audi car factory in Vorst “from reliable sources who are familiar with the file.” What’s more, a Chinese delegation is said to have visited the factory in recent weeks and is currently preparing a takeover bid. This must be submitted to the Volkswagen Group by Monday 23 September at the latest. In the meantime, the factory has restarted and the volunteers among the 2,910 employees are back to work in two shifts. It is not known exactly how many people are involved and how many cars are currently being produced or finished. The uncertainty remains, albeit with a glimmer of hope for a restart under the Chinese flag. Remarkable turn The fact that Nio is stepping into the breach for the Belgian Audi factory is remarkable for several reasons. To start with, the Chinese car manufacturer from Shanghai is currently in turbulent waters itself. After ten years of activity, the balance sheet is still deep red, with a net loss of 756 million dollars in 2023 on a turnover of 7.8 billion dollars. In Europe, William Li’s brainchild has only been active for two years and only in the Netherlands, Norway and Germany. In the latter market, it sold barely 1,500 cars in a year and a half, despite rave reviews and the option to swap batteries in so-called Nio Swap Stations. There are now 50 of these, spread across those three European markets. In the Netherlands, the cheapest model, the Nio ET5 4-door sedan with a 75 kWh battery, currently costs at least 61,271 euros according to Carbase. First in court, now around the table Perhaps even more striking is that Nio has only just been at loggerheads with Audi. The Germans had summoned the Chinese because of the model names ES6 and ES7. According to Audi, these were too similar to the sporty model names of the A6 and A7, namely S6 and S7. The manufacturer from Ingolstadt won and Nio had to adjust its European naming to the letter combinations EL (for the high-legged models) and ET (for the low models). That squabble does not seem to deter the Chinese from sitting down at the table with Audi. For Nio, the cursed EU import tariffs currently amount to 20.8% (on top of the standard 10%), which does not help its ambition to compete with the German Three. With a production site in Belgium, Nio would be able to put its EVs on the European market more cheaply and incidentally gain a lead over other Chinese brands that still have to build their EU factories entirely from scratch. Hoping for a blessing?
Source: www.autoweek.nl
