Audi is currently actively looking for a buyer for its Forest plant, in the absence of a viable alternative within the Volkswagen group, Audi’s parent company, and while VW has decided to stop building cars at the Brussels site once the last examples of the Q8 e-tron electric SUV are released next year.
Chinese carmaker NIO denied on Friday that it was a candidate to take over the Audi plant in Forest, which is under threat of closure, following rumours to that effect in the Belgian press. While a closure of the plant could result in the loss of 2,910 jobs, a delegation from NIO reportedly visited the Audi Brussels site in recent weeks. And according to De Tijd, the Chinese premium carmaker is preparing an offer, which it should submit to the VW group by next Monday, the deadline set for potential investors to submit an offer.
The Asian company, however, denied the rumor on Friday. NIO has no plans to buy the Audi plant and the company says it is “cautious” about investing in fixed assets, with the exception of battery swap stations for its cars, its founder and CEO William Li told CNEVpost, a Chinese news outlet specializing in electric car news. “Why could NIO afford the Brussels plant when Audi can’t?” he said, adding that the rumors to that effect were “baseless.”
► Review | Who is NIO, the Chinese car manufacturer candidate to take over the Audi Brussels site?
NIO is a Chinese premium brand with strong ambitions for Europe. Some of its models are currently available in Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, but not yet in Belgium. According to several media reports, D’Ieteren, the group that distributes VW group cars in Belgium, is interested in the Audi plant in Forest. It would like to use a third of the site to refurbish used cars for resale, which would save some 500 jobs there.
Belgian
Related News :