Weblog Ken – These are the remaining car factories in Belgium

The bankruptcy of the Belgian bus builder Vanhool makes it painfully clear that producing vehicles is no longer easy in Western Europe. Car manufacturers are lured to the east and south of the EU with lower labor costs and milder environmental standards, while other continents are actually even more attractive. Belgium is an exception in this respect, with two high-tech car factories that are set in stone for the time being. The only question is whether this will remain the case in the future.

Glorious past

For a small country, Belgium has always done well in the field of vehicles. Until the Second World War, more than a hundred coach and car builders were active, with notable names such as Imperia and Minerva that caused a stir in America. Due to the war and rising protectionism, Belgium lost its status as an economic powerhouse, resulting in numerous bankruptcies. Car assembly revived in the 1950s, when Belgium, like the Netherlands, imposed import tariffs on foreign cars. For example, this forced BMW to have cars assembled at Moorkens in Kontich near Antwerp, while the Russian brand Moskvitch outsourced the production of the 408 to Renault in Vilvoorde.

Although the Renault branch on the outskirts of Brussels was built in 1925 and started assembling cars from 1935, production only peaked at the end of the 1980s. Unfortunately, on July 31, 1997, it was the unexpected end of the story for the more than 3,000 employees. Opel Antwerp was founded in 1924 as General Motors Continental and employed approximately 10,000 people in its heyday. In 2007, production was halved, and the gates were closed immediately in 2010. Same story for Ford Genk, which opened in 1964 and had to close at the end of 2014. In addition to the reasons mentioned in my intro, ‘savings’ and ‘overcapacity’ were often cited motives for closing these three large car factories in Belgium.

Audi and Volvo

In 2024, Belgium still has two car factories: Audi Vorst and Volvo Ghent. Both high-tech, both specialized in the production of EVs. C40 and XC40 Recharge models are currently rolling off the production line in Ghent and are preparing for the assembly of the EX30. The hoped-for battery gigafactory ultimately did not materialize, but the near future still looks good for the 6,500 employees. Something that is far from certain at Audi in Vorst. Although the Q8 e-tron is currently being assembled there, the successor to that model has not been assigned to the Brussels factory. The 3,000 employees therefore only have job security until 2027. After that, the hope is that one of the models from the Volkswagen Group will be on the new SSP platform.