No new model and so far no investor who can sustainably secure employment at the location: companies and unions are now discussing what will happen next for the 3,000 employees.
Audi has been negotiating a social plan for its 3,000 employees since Tuesday with the works council at the plant in Brussels and the unions. This was announced by production director Gerd Walker.
The work is on the brink. So far, Audi has spoken to more than 20 potential investors from the automotive industry. But no one secures employment at the location in the long term, said Walker. An interested party wants to revise his personnel concept in the next few days. From Audi’s perspective, what is important is “a viable and sustainable concept for the location and the employees,” says Walker.
Audi is considering closing the Brussels plant and – as required by law in Belgium – has been discussing this with works councils and unions for months. The small factory only produces a single model, the Q8 e-tron electric SUV, whose sales figures are shrinking. The parent company Volkswagen does not want to launch a new model in Brussels because the factory has very high logistics costs because there are only a few suppliers on site. The location between a residential area, railway tracks and the motorway makes expansion difficult.
Source: Stern
