Belgian goverment bids to save Audi Brussels

Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo will bring together the government and top Audi officials, reports De Tijd on Saturday. The meeting has one goal: to save Audi Brussels from closure so that the 3,000 workers at the plant can keep their jobs.

At the end of last month, it was announced that Audi was cutting all 371 temporary jobs of its plant in Forest, a municipality in the Brussels-Capital Region. This is a consequence of falling demand for Audi's electric SUV, the Q8 e-tron, the only model built there. And the Q8 e-tron's successor will be built in Mexico instead of Brussels.

With the future of the Forest plant uncertain, De Croo is setting up a task force with regional prime ministers and top Audi officials. De Croo wants to use all possible means to avoid the closure of Audi Brussels and to secure the future of the plant's 3,000 employees.

No guarantees

Options include training support for the development of a new model, subsidies, a reduction in the energy bill and an adjustment of the investment deduction so that companies like Audi can benefit from it.

However, it remains unclear whether the plant can be saved. Audi is struggling with lower-than-expected sales of its electric cars and has been forced to cut production. The German carmaker is working on a new strategy that should clarify the future of Audi Brussels. But that is unlikely to happen before the elections on 9 June.

^{© BELGA PHOTO DIRK WAEM}