The Brussels factory of the German luxury car maker Audi has been awarded the production of the Q8 e-tron model. This has been confirmed by Audi CEO Markus Duesmann at the factory in Forest. This ensures employment in the factory for a number of additional years.
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The German trade magazine Automobilwoche had previously written that the Q8 e-tron would be built in Brussels. The Brussels factory is today building the electric SUV e-tron, which will receive a final update in 2023 and will come to an end three years later. From 2026, the Q8 e-tron would roll off the production line in Vorst, an even larger electric SUV than the e-tron.
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“We made the decision to produce the Q8 e-tron in Brussels because we have a very forward-looking factory here,” explains Audi boss Duesmann. Duesmann did not want to comment in detail about exactly how long the production of the Q8 e-tron model offers job security in Vorst, but in a video interview with Belga he already shows himself optimistic. “With the new model, we are looking far into the next decade and even beyond that we will still decide on the successor. So it looks like we’re going to have production in Forest for a very long time. We are talking about hundreds of thousands of cars or even millions.”
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The news that Audi Brussels may produce a new electric car became known during the celebration of the production of the eight millionth car at the factory in Forest. During a laser show attended by Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Flemish Prime Minister Jan Jambon and Federal Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet, this car was driven in, a fully electric e-tron. Both the SUV version and the coupé version of the e-tron are currently produced in Brussels.
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The successor, the Q8 e-tron, Audi’s largest SUV model, is also a fully electric car. Prime Minister De Croo thinks it is very good news that it will be built in Vorst. “It shows that when it comes to sustainability and innovation, we have a huge advantage here. Fifteen years ago, people in Belgium asked the question: ‘Can we still make cars?’ The answer is clearly yes. We have a factory of the future in Brussels and we also have a factory in Ghent where electric cars are produced. The jobs that will be created as a result are jobs of the future, because it is about the mobility of the future.”
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