Production of the Audi Q8 e-tron at the Brussels plant (Source: Audi AG)
People are angry, cars are not selling, and now for the first time Volkswagen may close one of its factories in Europe – the modern plant in Brussels that makes the Audi Q8 E-Tron.
Back in September, Volkswagen-owned Audi said it wanted to stop production of the Q8 E-Tron – an €80,000 electric SUV that everyone in Europe could afford – and sold the factory. Meanwhile, VW has been looking for investors or other ways to solve the problems, as the company now says that none of the 26 interested parties have offered viable solutions for the future of the industry, as reported Cars News Europe.
An internal investigation into the company's future production of cars or other materials that will be used at the facility also proved fruitless, according to the report. “It is important to me that we quickly create clarity in the information system and consultation and now focus more on the social system discussions,” Audi COO Gerd Walker told. Cars News Europe. “We will continue to pursue this in a confident, objective, and fair manner.”
First, we can't ignore the negative sales numbers for the Q8 E-Tron, where the 120,000-car industry peaked in 2022 with 47,900 cars, compared to 37,400 Q8 E-Trons last year. This year, Audi delivered 23,900 cars.
But other problems also plagued the Belgian plant. First, it is located on the railway line, which makes expansion impossible, and there is no body shop on site, which means that imported body parts must be supplied from other plants. The successor to the Q8 will be made in Mexico, and Audi does not plan to move the new models to the Belgian plant.
The 3,000 factory workers employed there are likely to lose their jobs, prompting a backlash from unions who say the company is very resistant to considering other offers. “What they want to do is to close the factory as quickly as possible,” said Ronny Liedts of the ACV-CSC union, as quoted Cars News Europe. “None of the methods work.”
Last month, large rallies blocked the Belgian capital over the possible closure of the facility, with unions warning of further strikes and protests. Now, the industry is a symbol of what protesters say is the real problem: It's not that people don't want to drive EVs, it's that European automakers are focusing on large SUVs that the average person can't afford.
“Car manufacturers wanted to make big profits from electric vehicles quickly and did not accept that the transition phase would bring few advantages and benefits,” said Hillal Sor, a trade unionist at Metallos FGTB, told. Euronews. So they bet everything on big, fancy, expensive models that European citizens can't afford.
Sales statistics confirm this: In the first eight months of this year, about 902,000 electric cars were purchased in the European Union, representing only 12.6% of the total number sold. To support the EV revolution, unions say they want more public funding. The European Parliament agreed last month to review tariffs on Chinese EVs and other safeguards are on the table.
Meanwhile, VW's overproduction at its German sites is forcing the company to consider, for the first time, closing a factory in its home region.
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