Updated: 00:01 AEDT, 18 December 2024
86
View
comments
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
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.
Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.
Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd
Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group