Audi to shut production at Brussels EV factory in February

BRUSSELS: Audi plans to stop making electric vehicles at an embattled factory near here at the end of next February, the German carmaker and union representatives said on Tuesday.

Audi, a subsidiary of crisis-hit Volkswagen, earlier this year announced its intention to shut production of its high-end Q8 e-tron model at the site in Forest, south of the Belgian capital, but had not previously communicated an exact date.

"Audi Brussels has confirmed that as of Feb 28, 2025, there will be no more production of the current model, and therefore activities will end," said Ludovic Pineur, of Belgian union CNE.

The move comes as Volkswagen is planning to close at least three factories in Germany, cull tens of thousands of jobs and slash salaries in a "historic" cost-cutting drive.

The 10-brand Volkswagen group, which employs more than 680,000 people globally, has been hit hard by rising competition in key market China, especially on electric cars.

The decision to close the Belgian site in February was communicated during a Tuesday meeting, where the carmaker said there would be no layoffs before the end of 2024, said Jan Baetens, another CNE representative, who was in attendance.

Audi also said it was in talks with a new - but yet unnamed - potential investor interested in manufacturing small utility vehicles in Forest, added Pineur.

The factory has seen protests and a prolonged strike since Audi first made its intention clear earlier this year.

A spokesman for Audi Brussels, which employs about 3,000 people, confirmed the contents of the meeting to AFP.

Europe has been racing to produce more EVs as part of its green transition, with the clock ticking down on an EU deadline to phase out the sale of fossil fuel-burning cars by 2035.

But sales have struggled to take off. New registrations dropped six percent on the previous year across the continent in July, according to the European Union.

VW has argued its wider cuts are necessary as it grapples with high manufacturing costs, the stuttering switch to electric vehicles and increased Chinese competition.

Rival carmakers in Germany's flagship auto industry are facing similar headwinds.

The EU on Tuesday decided to slap hefty tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars after an anti-subsidy probe concluded Beijing's support to local manufacturers was unfair.