Audi Brussels has announced that it will indefinitely postpone the production of its Q4 electric vehicle models at its plant in Forest.
The announcement, which followed a meeting between the car manufacturer's management and unions on Monday, was preceded by a workers' strike that same morning. By Monday afternoon, staff had still not returned to work.
Audi Brussels added that its decision to delay production of the mid-sized SUVs, originally scheduled for the start of November, will not lead to job cuts at its Forest plant, where approximately 3,000 permanent and 500 temporary staff members are currently employed.
A spokesperson for the car manufacturer informed De Standaard that lower than expected demand and insufficiently competitive government subsidies were the chief reasons behind the decision to delay production.
Audi Brussels had initially aimed to build around 40,000 Q4s by mid-2026. Under the new plan, only 100 to 200 vehicles will be produced for testing purposes this year.
The spokesperson also noted that the Q8 vehicle – another electric SUV already under production – will "definitely continue to be manufactured in Forest for several more years".
'Employees are obviously worried'
Grégory Dascotte, a representative of the General Labour Federation of Belgium, told RTBF that the meeting between management and unions on Monday morning had not been a success.
"The staff expected more clarity from the management," he said. "It was neither convincing nor reassuring."
Dascotte's comments were echoed by Jan Baetens of ACV Metea, which represents Belgian textile and metal workers.
"The staff is worried and the management has not been able to reassure them," Baetens told De Standaard. "While it was recently announced that there was no need for temporary unemployment, production in Forest last week was still at a standstill for three days. Apparently, they themselves do not know."
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However, Baetens also emphasised that it was "good" that Audi Brussels' "management is doing everything they can to promote the factory in Forest".
Ronny Liedts, also of ACV Metea, said he was worried about the impact of the decision to postpone production on temporary staff members. "We are concerned about the roughly 500 people who are working on temporary contracts," he told Bruzz.
"Employees are obviously worried because there remains a lot of ambiguity. And they are disappointed after the efforts they have made to build the Q4."
