Accordingly, German carmaker Audi has just confirmed that it will have to close a major electric car factory in the next few months. Specifically, the factory in the capital Brussels (belgium) will have to close from February 28, 2025. This could result in the loss of 3,000 jobs and raise concerns about the future of many iconic electric vehicles, including the Q8 E-tron.
The decision to close the Brussels plant is painful, said Gerd Walker, Audis production director. This is probably the most difficult decision I have ever had to make in my professional career."
Currently, Audi has not yet provided official information for this decision. However, experts say the German automaker faces many challenges at the location of the factory - Brussels Forest.
This is a location near the bustling city center, making restructuring almost impossible. This location also increases logistics costs such as warehousing and transportation compared to other factories across Europe.
It is known that increasing operating costs is a real problem for Audi as the automaker has suffered losses due to maintaining the factory for many months now and Audi's leaders have been trying to sell this factory for a long time.
The Brussels Times raised concerns that the closure of this factory would result in the loss of more than 3,000 jobs, leading to many other consequences such as supply chains, reactions from partners, subcontractors, etc.
In addition, this Brussels factory has been the main manufacturer of the Q8 E-tron SUV - originally named E-tron - since 2022. In 2023 alone, 53,555 Q8 E-tron vehicles, including the Sportback version, were produced at this factory. The Q8 E-tron is still expected to continue to be a strategic product of Audi for a few more years.
Therefore, the closure of the factory in Brussels will severely affect the future of Audi's flagship and iconic model. It is not yet known which factory in Europe will take on the role of continuing to produce the Q8 E-tron.
The event comes after Audi announced a completely new logo on some of its latest electric vehicles. Accordingly, the 4-ring symbol - appearing since 1932 will be removed from Audi's new logo, replaced with simple AUDI letters that are said to be aimed at young people.
