Days after Volkswagen announced it was closing three factories in Germany – a first for the company – the carmaker will now officially close its Audi plant in Brussels where it makes the Audi Q8 E-Tron in a few months.
The company announced that it will close the factory on February 28, 2025.
Back in September, Volkswagen-owned Audi said that it wanted to stop production on the Q8 E-Tron and put the factory up for sale. Meanwhile, VW has been looking for investors or other workarounds, with the company saying that none of the 26 interested parties offered any viable solutions for the future of the plant, as reported by Automotive News Europe.
Management is still looking for a potential buyer to take over the plant, and no layoffs are expected until the beginning of 2025. But either way, the 3,000 people currently employed there are likely to lose their jobs, which has stirred up pushback from unions that argue that the company is too resistant to consider other offers.
Last month, huge rallies blocked the Belgian capital over the potential closing of the plant, with unions warning of further strikes and protests. Now, the factory has become a symbol for what protestors say is the real problem: It’s not that people don’t want to embrace electric vehicles, it’s that European automakers are focusing too much on large, expensive SUVs. The Audi Q8 E-Tron, an electric SUV, sells for around €80,000.
Just two days ago, Volkswagen – which currently has 10 plants and 300,000 employees in Germany – reported its plan to close three German plants, the first time in the company’s 87-year history that it is closing factories on its home turf. The plan includes cutting tens of thousands of jobs and slashing pay for 10% of its remaining staff.
Rough news for Volkswagen, but it’s not too surprising since the legacy automaker has been facing a steep decline in sales in China, which is its core market, while simultaneously facing challenges from BYD and other Chinese automakers entering the European market.