Audi spokesperson Peter D’Hore has announced that the temporary contracts at the Forest plant will not be extended due to challenging economic conditions and uncertainty about subsidies in some markets. This is causing customer reluctance to purchase fully electric vehicles, which is affecting production at the factory. Since Audi Brussels only produces electric cars, they will have to adapt their production program.
The factory currently produces the large electric Audi K8 e-tron but not the smaller K6 e-tron. The decision to lay off 371 workers was announced to the unions at a session of the workers’ council. ABVV has announced a strike and hopes to negotiate with management to reduce the number of layoffs.
According to union representative Frankie De Shriver, the factory is currently at a standstill and the strike notice will take effect when temporary unemployment ends. Last month there were talks of introducing additional weeks of temporary unemployment and reducing the speed of production, but the decision to lay off workers was a surprise.
The future of the Forest plant is uncertain as production of the K8 will cease in 2027 and a new model has not yet been allocated. ABVV expects to hear in November whether a new model will be assigned to the factory. Meetings between the union and management are held every six weeks, and a decision is usually announced in November on which batches will be produced in which factories.