According to the European Automobile News, a spokesman for Volkswagen Group on November 12 said the company failed to find a buyer for its Audi factory in Brussels, which may cause the factory to be closed.
It is reported that a potential investor from the commercial vehicle industry has withdrawn the letter of intent. The above -mentioned spokesman said, “The factory has no potential investors, so the active finding investors’ work has ended.” The current focus is to discuss the layoff plan. According to the spokesman, the working group who found other possibilities for the factory hopes to find a feasible solution. It can solve the problem in the short term and retain as many jobs as possible, but it has not succeeded.
Last month, Audi chief operating officer Gerd Walker said that among 26 companies and potential investors interested in the factory, none of them provided “feasible and sustainable ideas” for the future of the factory. Earlier, Belgian newspapers were reported that Weilai Motors, a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, was ready to acquire the factory, but was denied by Li Bin, CEO of Weilai Automobile. In addition, Volkswagen Group has also studied the possibility of the factory’s future production of cars or for other uses, but no solution was found.
In July this year, Volkswagen said that due to the downturn of high -end electric vehicles, it is considering closing the Audi’s Brussels factory. It is reported that there are about 3,000 employees in the factory. Currently, the Audi luxury electric SUV model is Q8 E-TRON, but the model will be discontinued at the end of February.
The Brussels plant may be the first factory that Volkswagen Group has closed under the reduction of cost measures. The massive capacity of Volkswagen Group’s German factories has forced the Volkswagen brand to consider closing the German factories for the first time and cancel signed a 30 -year work security agreement with employees. Audi is reorganizing several departments to speed up decision -making and launch new models faster.