REPORT: FUTURE OF AUDI PRODUCTION AT VW PLANT IN ZWICKAU NOW IN DOUBT

Future production plans for carmaker Volkswagen's factory in the eastern German city of Zwickau remain in doubt, even after labour concessions in a new collective bargaining deal averted threatened plant closures.

The news magazine Spiegel reported that the Volkswagen Group, the carmaker's parent corporation, is considering moving the production of the electric Audi Q4 e-tron SUV, to another location beginning in the 2030s.

The luxury carmaker Audi is also owned by the Volkswagen Group.

There are now ongoing discussions about moving the vehicle's production to Volkswagen's US plant in Chattanooga, at least for vehicles intended for the US market, Spiegel reported.

All Audi Q4 e-tron models, including those exported to the United States, are now produced in Zwickau.

"We are currently examining various scenarios," an Audi spokeswoman told dpa.

But she added: "Zwickau will remain the production site for the Audi Q4 e-tron and Audi Q4 e-tron Sportback."

Volkswagen's sister model to the Audi Q4 e-tron, the VW ID.4, is already being produced in Chattanooga. For Audi, however, the Q4 would be the first vehicle to be produced directly in the United States.

Until now, Audi has mainly served the local market from its plant in Mexico.

The Audi Q4 e-tron and its estate variant, the Q4 e-tron Sportback, are currently scheduled to be the only models to be built in Zwickau from 2027.

Production of VW's ID.3, ID.4 and ID.5 electric models, as well as the Cupra Born, is set to be shifted away from Zwickau to other VW plants in the German cities of Wolfsburg and Emden.

That change was greed by Volkswagen and labour leaders as part of a contentious collective bargaining deal struck shortly before Christmas.

In return, Volkswagen agreed to rule out any lay-offs at the company's plants in Germany until at least 2030. The Zwickau plant has around 9,500 employees.

2025-01-10T13:48:26Z