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While Volkswagen Group is still deciding whether to shut down some of its factories in Germany, Audi has already made the tough decision to close its factory in Belgium. This Brussels plant will stop operations at the end of February, which means the Q8 E-Tron and Q8 E-Tron Sportback models will no longer be produced. These large electric SUVs haven’t been selling well enough to justify keeping the factory open.
Audi attempted to sell the factory but couldn’t find a buyer. There were rumors about the Chinese car manufacturer Nio being interested, but its CEO, William Li, denied these claims in September. According to Gerd Walker, an Audi board member and head of production, “The decision to close the Brussels factory is painful. Personally, it was the toughest decision I’ve ever had to make in my professional career,” as reported by Reuters.
The Q8 E-Tron was launched in 2018 as Audi’s first global electric car, initially just called the E-Tron. A year later, the stylish Sportback version was introduced. Both models received the “Q8” prefix after a facelift in late 2022. The Brussels factory began producing these updated Q8 models in December 2022, and the last cars will be built by February 28, 2025, according to company spokesperson Peter D’hoore.
In 2023, Audi sold 49,001 units of the Q8 E-Tron, which is a 4.3% drop from the previous year. The Brussels plant has the capacity to produce up to 120,000 vehicles annually, so it’s clear why the production numbers didn’t justify keeping it open. The factory, which started in 1949, employs over 3,000 people and has been recognized as the “world’s first carbon-neutral high-volume production plant in the luxury segment.”
Audi had aimed to become fully electric by 2033 but now seeks to remain “flexible,” according to CEO Gernot Döllner. Elsewhere in the VW Group, Bentley has already delayed its switch to an all-electric lineup. Bentley initially planned to stop making gas-powered cars by 2030 but has now adjusted that target to 2033, aiming for an exclusively electric lineup by 2035.
The main VW brand wanted to be fully electric in Europe by 2033. However, it recently stated that the current-generation Golf might continue until 2035, aligning with the EU’s plan to ban new cars with harmful emissions, effectively phasing out internal combustion engines. It’s likely that SEAT/Cupra and Skoda will follow similar timelines as the main VW brand.
