Audi Brussels’ date of death fixed but still one straw to grasp

The curtain falls on Audi Brussels: the date of death is ‘officially’ fixed at February 28th, 2025. Or is there still one stalk of straw to grasp? Eventually, a new potential investor surfaced from several possible overtakers contacted by Audi management: a ‘mystery’ commercial vehicle—truck and bus—manufacturer.

Audi confirmed on Tuesday that the factory would officially end production of its single Audi model, the Q8 e-tron electric SUV, built in Brussels within four months. Until that day, the 2,900 employees will keep their jobs and work two shifts. From March, a few hundred would possibly remain to dismantle the factory’s machinery or prepare for a ‘take-over.’

Happy uncertainty ends

Employees at the Brussels factory were ‘happy’ the uncertainty ended with the fixed closure date and the promise of no layoffs until then. Still, many have lost hope of restarting with a new investor and are looking for a new job elsewhere. They are now ensured they can stay working until February and won’t lose their golden handshake when taking another job.

Until now, Volkswagen Group’s premium brand Audi has failed to find a suitable investor for its troubled electric-vehicle factory in Brussels. And with the news that Volkswagen itself will close three factories in Germany – something unseen in the car giant’s history – nobody expects any good to come from that direction.

Audi Chief Operating Officer Gerd Walker said earlier this month that an internal search within the VW Group for future car production or alternative uses for the plant had failed.

Out of the blue

However, somewhat ‘out of the blue,’ one of the potential overtakers contacted by Audi surfaced in the last few days, according to Audi Brussels’ spokesperson Peter D’Hoore. Other details than saying the interested party is a ‘commercial vehicle manufacturer’ who will visit the factory in the coming days weren’t given.

Suppose the intention is to take over Audi’s pilot factory for electric vehicles. In that case, it has to be a truck and bus maker with deep pockets because, according to analysts, at least €300 million is needed.

European truck maker?

Few European truck makers are viable. VW’s Traton with MAN and Scania is unlikely, considering the staggering Volkswagen empire. D’Hoore already hinted to Belgian media that it wasn’t them.

Volvo Trucks already has a big factory in Ghent, Belgium, with possibly more space for expansion there than in Brussels. The factory is squeezed between residential areas, railroads, and the Brussels ringway.

That leaves only two ‘sizable’ European prospects: Iveco and Daimler Truck. Italian Iveco has 27 production plants and six research centers in 16 countries. Outside of Europe, the company operates in China, Russia, South Africa, and Latin America. It produces some 150,000 commercial vehicles annually.

Daimler Truck?

The real giant, however, is Daimler Truck AG. It is the world’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer, with over 35 locations worldwide in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America, and approximately 100,000 employees. Its yearly output in 2023 was 526,053 units (520,291 in 2022).

But why would it come to Brussels, knowing there is no room for expansion and that it already operates 12 production sites in nearby Germany and others in Turkey and the Czech Republic?

Looking at bus makers, one could think of Polish Solaris Bus & Coach, a daughter of Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF with an 18% market share in electric buses. But why should they be interested in Brussels? They had the opportunity to take over Belgian Van Hool, which went bankrupt but showed no interest.

So would it be an ‘outsider’ looking for an easy entry into the European Union? Japanese Hino Motors, a daughter of Toyota, already has a presence in Belgium (Malines), but only for import sales of service parts.

Chinese candidate?

It would likely be a Chinese candidate, and there are several with at least the size to consider it. Foton is China’s biggest truck manufacturer, and in addition to trucks, it also makes buses and sport-utility vehicles.

Changan Automobile is one of China’s four major (state-owned) auto groups, and it also manufactures micro-buses and micro- and light-duty trucks or pickups. But ‘car manufacturers’ weren’t mentioned. So FAW Group, number two in China and among the top ten Chinese commercial truck brands, is unlikely, too.

BYD comes to mind when talking about bus manufacturers. Still, it already assembles buses for Europe in Hungary, and apart from battery manufacturing, where it all started, it’s currently challenging Tesla for the pole position as the world’s second-biggest electric passenger carmaker.

Yutong is China’s biggest bus manufacturer, but it officially entered the European market in 2004. Since 2011, it has sold 5,917 buses on the Old Continent. It sounds meager to take over a factory the size of Audi Brussels.

So, your guess is as good as ours. We’ll probably have more details in the coming weeks.