- Nio will reportedly submit an official provide for Audi’s Brussels plant on September 23.
- The manufacturing unit presently solely builds the Q8 E-Tron and Audi has no plans to supply anything there.
The European Union will undertake new import duties for vehicles manufactured in China, and several other Chinese language producers have introduced their curiosity in constructing vehicles within the EU. Nio, reportedly searching for to take over Audi’s manufacturing plant in Belgium, is the newest addition to this listing.
In response to Belgian publication De Tijd, Nio will submit an official provide to buy the plant by September 23. It intends to make the most of the whole manufacturing unit for automobile meeting in Europe, thus avoiding the newly imposed import duties on China-made vehicles, which is added on prime of the present 10% tariff.
Audi, which hasn’t been doing so nice currently, is actively searching for a purchaser for the plant, having despatched its almost 3,000-strong workforce residence with out pay after they refused to return to work resulting from calls for for increased salaries and assurances of future job safety. Issues escalated to the purpose the place employees gathered exterior the plant in protest and set piles of tires on fireplace to draw consideration.
Earlier than the information that Nio was fascinated about shopping for the plant broke, native Belgian media reviews had been satisfied the manufacturing unit’s destiny was already sealed after Audi mother or father Volkswagen introduced it had no plans to make new fashions there.
The automaker is presently constructing the Q8 E-Tron in Brussels, however the mannequin isn’t promoting wherever close to in addition to Audi hoped, and it’s contemplating ending its manufacturing early. Moreover, the electrical Q8’s substitute won’t be manufactured in Belgium (manufacturing will probably be moved to Mexico and China), and Audi now not sees a use for this specific manufacturing location.
Nio is conscious of this, and it’ll leverage the data to get a very good deal on the manufacturing unit, which might permit it to significantly increase its presence throughout the continent. Its earlier interplay with Audi wasn’t a optimistic one, although, because the German automaker took Nio to court docket in Germany (and gained) over its ES6, ES7 and ES8 mannequin names, which sounded too just like S6 and S7.
Nio isn’t the one Chinese language automaker seeking to construct vehicles in Europe for native markets. BYD is already constructing its first automobile plant in Europe close to Szeged in Hungary, which may have a capability of 300,000 vehicles per 12 months, and it’s eyeing places for a second manufacturing unit.
SAIC Motor is one other massive Chinese language identify seeking to construct vehicles in Europe. In response to reviews, it has already chosen a location within the Galicia area of Spain, however it’s also contemplating Hungary or Czechia resulting from their decrease labor prices. The plant would construct MG-badged autos like the MG4.
China’s Chery has already signed a cope with Ebro EV-Motors, an organization primarily based close to Barcelona, to fabricate Omoda EVs within the area. Its purpose is to supply 150,000 EVs per 12 months there by 2029. Leapmotor has additionally gone down the three way partnership path, and it’s partnered with Stellantis to construct its tiny T03 metropolis EV in Poland alongside Jeep and Fiat fashions.
