Electric Vehicle Production Stopped at Audi Brussels Factory: ABVV Announces Strike, Uncertainty Looms Over Future of the Factory

Audi Brussels spokesperson Peter D’hoore has announced in a press release that the factory will not be extending interim contracts, citing difficult economic conditions and uncertainty surrounding subsidies in some markets. This decision is making it challenging for customers to purchase fully electric vehicles, which are produced exclusively by Audi Brussels.

The factory, located in Forest, produces the large electric Audi Q8 e-tron but not the smaller Q6 e-tron. The decision to lay off 371 employees was communicated to the unions during a meeting of the works council. The ABVV has issued a strike notice and hopes to negotiate with management to reduce the number of dismissals.

Union representative Franky De Schrijver stated that the factory is currently at a standstill and that the strike notice will take effect when temporary unemployment ends. Last month, discussions were held about introducing additional weeks of temporary unemployment and reducing production speed, but the decision to lay off workers came as a surprise.

The future of the factory in Forest remains uncertain as production of the Q8 will cease in 2027, and no new model has been assigned yet. The ABVV expects to hear in November whether a new model will be allocated to the factory. Meetings between the union and management are held every six weeks, with a decision typically announced in November regarding which series will be produced in which factories.