Audi doesn't just want to close an entire car factory in Belgium. The brand will also drop the car that is built there. Production should otherwise have continued in Mexico.
The Audi Q8 e-tron may now go out of production altogether, as Audi's electric car factory in Brussels faces a permanent closure.
Volkswagen, which owns Audi, has confirmed that negotiations with potential buyers of the factory have fallen through. There is thus no prospect of saving the large factory that has produced cars since 1949. The factory's 3,033 employees now face an uncertain future.
Volkswagen states that talks have been held with 26 different interested parties, including the Chinese electric car manufacturer Nio.
But the hunt for a copper is now officially suspended, and there is no indication that it will resume.
– There is no potential buyer for the plant, so the active search has ended, says a spokesman.
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In future, the focus will be on handling the closure of the factory, which is scheduled to take place in February 2025.
The closure of the factory in Brussels most likely also means the end of the Audi Q8 e-tron, which was launched in 2018 as Audi's first major venture into electric cars.
Originally called the Audi e-tron, the model changed its name in 2022 to the Q8 e-tron in an attempt to compete with models such as the BMW iX, Mercedes-Benz EQE and Tesla Model X.
However, sales of the Q8 e-tron have been disappointing. In Denmark, between 1 January and 31 October this year, 140 new Q8 e-trons were registered.
Audi already announced in July 2024 that it was considering ending production of the Q8 e-tron and warned of a possible closure of the Brussels factory. There has been speculation about a move of production to Mexico, but the closure of the Brussels factory now seems to seal the model's fate.
This is written by the Australian Drive .
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