Audi cannot find an investor for its Brussels plant
On Tuesday, Chief Operating Officer Gerd Walker said that none of the 26 interested parties or potential investors had presented a “viable and sustainable concept” for the factory’s future. An internal search within the Volkswagen Group for future car production or alternative uses for the plant had also remained unsuccessful.
Over the course of the year, Audi had repeatedly publicly criticised the plant in the Belgian capital, where the Q8 e-tron and its Sportback offshoot are currently being built. The successor to the Q8 e-tron will be manufactured in Mexico, and Audi will not award any new models to the Belgian plant. As some German sites within the VW Group are now also on the brink of collapse, the chances for Brussels – even with another Group brand – have diminished further. In mid-September, Walker stated in an interview that the company was focussing on the search for potential investors.
However, the search appears to have failed. Walker has now mentioned the number of 26 interested parties in a statement following an extraordinary works council meeting. The names of the interested parties and the content of their offers are not known. It is thus unclear why Audi has rejected all offers, although one potential investor supposedly revised his offer recently. It therefore appears that there was definitely interest.
Brussels could now become the first VW plant in Europe to be closed. According to Ronny Liedts, the negotiator responsible for the ACV-CSC union at the plant, it is likely that around 3,000 factory workers will lose their jobs. Liedts also criticised Audi. “The only thing they want to do is close the plant as quickly as possible. None of the alternatives work for them,” he said.
Audi had repeatedly argued that the plant’s location hindered expansion and internal logistics, which were necessary to operate the site economically. The plant is located directly on the railway line, so no expansion areas are accessible. In addition, there is no body shop on site, which is why stand-alone production is not possible in Brussels – important body components have to be supplied from other plants.
However, regardless of the challenges at the site itself, Audi also has a problem with the demand for the model built in Brussels. The Belgian plant is designed for a capacity of 120,000 vehicles per year. Audi reached its peak in 2022 with 47,900 cars built in Brussels, compared to 37,400 Q8 e-tron in 2023. According to the VW Group’s Q3 delivery figures published last week, Audi has only delivered 23,900 units of the large electric SUV so far this year. In August, a media report stated that Audi planned to only hand over 6,000 vehicles to customers in 2025.
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