A MAJOR car brand has permanently closed a huge EV factory and slashed 3,000 jobs after a “global fall in demand”.
Audi announced it has shut down its Brussels plant for good – sparking fears production on the beloved Q8 E-tron could dramatically stop.
The Brussels plant shut down for good today[/caption]
Around 500 workers from Audi Brussels protested the closure[/caption]
Production boss Gerd Walker said: “The decision to close the Brussels factory is painful.
“Personally, it was the toughest decision I have ever had to make in my professional career.”
The Brussel Times reported the site’s closure put “more than 3,000 Belgian jobs at risk”.
The German manufacturer did not give an exact reason for the move but admitted they have battled “long-standing structural challenges” at the site.
Audi had even tried to sell the plant off to keep production alive in recent months, according to the media outlet.
But the company said there has been a global fall in demand for EV SUVs which affected the sales of their Q8 e-tron.
And, Audi said there have been structural problems at the site including high running costs.
Jan Baetens of the CSC union told the Mail: “People are being pushed to buy electric, but the infrastructure is not there yet”.
Sigrid de Vries, director general of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) added: “We have a demand issue at the moment.
“We have vehicles readily available to enter the market,’ she said, ‘but we are facing a stagnating demand.”
The factory was the main producer of the Q8 E-tron, originally known just as the E-tron, since 2022.
The closure is set to leave the future of the model unclear.
Back in July, Audi revealed it is “considering the early end of production” of the Q8.
The E-tron was Audi’s first series-production electric car when it was first made in 2018.
It took the world of electric motors by storm and went on to have a major update four years later when it changed its name to the Q8.
One of the main differences saw it equipped with a much larger battery.
The Q8 was expected to remain as Audi’s flagship pick for at least a few more years.
The car manufacturer’s had even started to branch out with newer models in the same range such as the smaller Q4 E-tron and the mid-sized Q6 E-tron.
Fears were already high over the future of the cars after Audi said a “global decline in customer orders in the electric luxury-class segment” threatened the SUV’s viability.
It also said there had been a noticeable drop in demand for the Q8 E-tron but that this was “segment specific”.
This comes after Donald Trump revealed his plan to introduce a 25 per cent tariff on cars and other good from the EU.
European autoshares fell after the move and EU boss Ursula von der Leyen described a “deep and disruptive transition ahead”.
Internation car sales faced a steep decline last year, with French and German manufacturers affected the worse.
According to an Allianz Trade report, European manufacturers had been edged out by US and Chinese rivals including Tesla.
