INGOLSTADT/BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) – The last hope of seeing an investor continue the activity of the Audi factory in Brussels has vanished. “The potential investor from the commercial vehicle sector has withdrawn its expression of interest,” the Volkswagen subsidiary announced on Tuesday. “There are no potential investors for the site, which ends the active search for investors.”
Audi has already announced that car production in Brussels will stop at the end of February. A social plan for the 3,000 employees is currently being negotiated with the works council and the unions. No layoffs are planned between now and the end of the year.
Audi, like its parent company Volkswagen, is in crisis and is discussing with the central works council in Ingolstadt how to avoid redundancies in Germany. Audi wants to close the Brussels factory and has been discussing it for four months with works councils and unions.
The factory, which employs 3,000 people, produces only one model, the Q8 e-tron electric SUV. Its sales are declining. The factory has very high logistics costs, as there are few suppliers nearby. Its location between a residential area, railway lines and the highway makes extensions difficult. The search for alternatives failed to find a viable solution for maintaining the factory and jobs./rol/DP/ngu
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