Brussels sees thousands rally as electric vehicle issues put Audi factory at risk

Thousands of people demonstrated in Brussels on Monday in solidarity with the workers of a nearby Audi factory making electric vehicles that the German carmaker is considering shutting down amid slumping in sales.

Audi said production at the plant, which employs about 3,000 people in the Belgian capital, will end in 2025 -- a move analysts say is symptomatic of the troubles afflicting Europe's wider car industry, amid low demand and competition from China.

"In a few weeks we're going to find ourselves unemployed, with no money and no prospects," said a 37-year-old worker who preferred not to give his name, holding a placard reading: "Our lives are not an assembly line".

Audi is a subsidiary of Volkswagen, which earlier this month made the bombshell announcement that it was considering the unprecedented step of closing production sites in Germany.

On Monday, police said more than 5,000 people marched through Brussels as part of the protest.

Some lit firecrackers and smoke bombs, others held trade union flags and signs reading "We are not for sale".

Organisers said they wanted to spur European Union leaders to act and invest massively to save jobs in the industrial sector. They put turnout at more than 10,000.

The demonstration comes as workers at the Brussels factory have gone on a prolonged strike, refusing to return to work after the summer break.

Some have been sleeping in tents outside the modern plant, which switched to producing EVs in 2018 after 70 years making combustion engine models.

"They screwed up with electric," said Karim Chawki, 52, a picketing worker.

"They wanted to innovate. We were going to be a pilot plant but they drove it into a wall. It didn't work and now we are the ones who are going to pay."

  Chinese blues  

Europe has been racing to produce more EVs as part of its green transition, with the clock ticking down on an EU deadline to phase out the sale of fossil fuel-burning cars by 2035.

But sales have struggled. New registrations dropped six percent on the previous year across the continent in July, according to the European Union.

This was partially due to the phasing out of some subsidies but the weakening demand has fuelled concerns about the sector.

Cheaper Chinese vehicles have saturated the market while consumers are yet to warm up to EVs, which have higher upfront costs and tend to lose value more quickly, he said.

Audi did not reply to a request for comment.

In July, the firm said demand for the high-end Q8 e-tron manufactured in Brussels dropped and the factory suffered from high logistical and production costs.

"It is high time that Europe wakes up. Today we are losing on all fronts, in terms of employment and in terms of climate," said Yvan Verougstraete, Belgian MEP with the centrist Renew group, who joined Monday's demonstration.

The EU is discussing plans to slap import duties of up to 36 percent on EVs imported from China.

The bloc decided in July to levy extra tariffs after an anti-subsidy probe concluded car manufacturers in China benefitted unfairly from state subsidies.

  'Legitimate anger'   

But the move has faced resistance from some countries, including Spain and Germany, which fear damage to trade ties with Beijing. A report by former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi last week said the tariffs would "help level the playing field".

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has promised a new "Clean Industrial Deal" to channel investment towards infrastructure and industry in the first 100 days after her new team takes office later this year.

But that might come too late for the Brussels Audi workers.

"Their anger is very legitimate, very understandable, especially since Audi is not very clear on its plans," Bernard Clerfayt, the minister in charge of employment for the Brussels region, told AFP.

Belgian unions have called for strike action across the country on Monday with walkouts elsewhere in solidarity.