Belgian company Heylen to take over former Audi Brussels site

Sept 1 (Reuters) - Belgian property company Heylen Warehouses will take over Audi's former plant in Brussels with the goal of restoring 3,000 jobs to the site, said Brussels' regional economy minister Laurent Hublet on Tuesday.

• "We have someone to take over the biggest industrial site in Brussels. This company is Heylen. It's a Belgian company which will aim to bring back activities to this site and make it a key economic driver for Brussels," Hublet told RTBF public television.

• "Our aim is to have 3,000 jobs on this site in three to five years," Hublet said. 

• Volkswagen — the parent company of Audi — closed the site in February 2025.

• The site, located in the city's Forest district, had been hit by low demand for Audi's electric luxury SUV Q8 e-tron.

• Volkswagen is considering measures that could double the planned number of job cuts, close factories and carve out parts of the business as it seeks to revive profits and fend off competition from Chinese rivals.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Hugh Lawson)