Audi workers in Brussels steal keys to 200 vehicles to demand explanations from Volkswagen

BRUSSELS, Sep 8 (DPA/EP) –

Audi factory workers in Brussels have stolen the keys to around 200 vehicles to demand explanations from the brand’s parent company, the German company Volkswagen, about the future of the factory following the latest news about the possible closure of plants.

Workers have warned that no cars will leave the factory until they receive concrete information, according to the Belga news agency.

Audi has warned that it will not give in to this type of blackmail and has threatened to file a complaint if the keys are not returned by midday on Monday, according to Belga, which points out that security cameras can be used to identify those responsible.

Audi said in July that the closure of the Brussels plant was not ruled out due to low demand for the Q8 e-tron electric SUV produced there. Around 3,000 employees are employed at the plant.

On Tuesday, Volkswagen announced that no new models of the group will be produced in Brussels in the coming years. Faced with this situation, workers have responded with strikes that have prevented the resumption of production after the summer break. The unions have called for a day of protest for 16 September.

“ALARMING” SITUATION

Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume has described the company’s financial situation as “alarming,” according to an interview published Sunday by the Sunday newspaper ‘Bild am Sonntag’.

The situation at the core brand “is so serious that it is not possible to let things continue as before,” Blume said. He cited the fact that fewer vehicles are being purchased in Europe, while new Asian competitors are entering the market.

“The cake has become smaller and we have more guests at the table,” Blume argued. The European automotive industry is in a situation it has never been in before.

“The economic environment has become even tougher, especially for the Volkswagen brand,” he said. However, he also denied that the carmaker would leave the country: “We are firmly committed to Germany as a location, because Volkswagen has trained entire generations. We have employees whose grandparents already worked at Volkswagen. I want their grandchildren to be able to continue working here.”

At the same time, however, the executive appealed to the will to change, using a play on words in German: “Volkswagen also contains the word ‘dare’. We have to dare to do something new: dare to succeed.” Blume thus alluded to the polysemy in German of the word “wagen”, which means “car”, but also “dare” as a verb.

Europe’s largest carmaker had previously announced that it would once again tighten its austerity programme at the core of its core brand in view of the worsening situation. Plant closures in Germany and forced layoffs are no longer ruled out.

Volkswagen has never closed a plant in Germany, or anywhere else in the world since 1988. However, disappointing sales have prompted management to consider sweeping reforms, much to the outrage of employees.

Some 25,000 workers gathered at Volkswagen’s headquarters in the northern German city of Wolfsburg this week to hear management defend planned cuts.