Audi Q8 e-tron faces the axe

The Audi Q8 e-tron faces an uncertain future as the German car maker considers closing the factory in Brussels, Belgium, where it’s built after a “sharp drop in incoming orders”.

Only days after confirming it will add yet another electric SUV to its line-up with the city-size 2027 Audi Q2 e-tron SUV, the car maker announced its largest – and first – electric SUV is on the chopping block.

“Audi is witnessing a global decline in customer orders in the electric luxury class segment,” a statement from the company said, adding it is
“Therefore considering the early end of production at the Brussels site”.

Launched globally in 2018 as Audi’s first battery-electric showroom model – badged simply ‘e-tron’ – the large SUV arrived in Australia in 2020 and was renamed ‘Q8 e-tron’ as part of a mid-life update in 2022.

It’s currently available in both SUV and Sportback body styles.

It made up a lower number of Audi’s 178,000 global electric vehicle sales in 2023, with 101,145 of those the newly launched Q4 e-tron small electric SUV due in Australia this year.

The Belgium Q8 e-tron plant produced only half as many – 53,555 – the lowest of all Audi-producing plants despite producing several other e-tron models in addition to the Q8.

For comparison, Audi’s biggest factory is at its Ingolstadt, Germany, headquarters, where it made 403,874 vehicles in 2023.

Year-to-date in 2024, the Q8 e-tron is the slowest-selling Audi SUV in Australia, outsold two-to-one by petrol/diesel versions of the Q8.

Audi also says unveiling the mid-size Q6 e-tron earlier this year – scheduled for Australia in 2025 – has contributed to the larger Q8 e-tron becoming “affected by a segment-specific intensified drop in demand”.

“With the ramp-up of the new models on the Premium Platform Electric [used by the Q6 e-tron], the company is now seeing a drop in demand for the Q8 e-tron. This has resulted in a sharp drop in incoming orders.”

Audi has also confirmed an electric version of the Q2 city SUV – the Audi Q2 e-tron – set for launch in 2027, meaning the German car maker will offer more electric SUVs than any other Western brand.

The news of the Q8 e-tron’s potential demise does not impact the petrol and diesel-powered versions of the Q8 made in Bratislava.

In order to close the factory in Brussels – which has produced more than 8 million vehicles since 1949, Audi having taken over in 2007 – Belgian law demands a consultation process across its 3000-strong workforce must be undertaken.

“The announcement of the intention does not mean that a decision has been made,” Audi Brussels CEO Volker Germann said.

“Nevertheless, this news has been felt very profoundly by the employees in Brussels and by me too. A transparent and constructive dialogue is important in the process that will follow. We will take all perspectives into account.”