Audi Brussels

Audi Brussels (before 2008 known as Volkswagen Vorst) is an Audi manufacturing plant located in Vorst/Forest, Belgium, a municipality located in the south-western part of Brussels.

In 1948 Pierre D'Ieteren, scion of a family of industrialists with a long established coach-building business, entered into an agreement with Volkswagen to import cars into Belgium. A little later work began on the construction of an auto-assembly plant, with the first stone of the building laid on 1 September 1948.

In addition to his business as a Volkswagen importer, D’Ieteren had been the Belgian importer before the war of several US brands including Studebaker. A few months after the importation deal with Volkswagen, in April 1949, the first locally assembled Studebaker emerged from what had now become a car factory. Thanks to the partnership between D’Ietern and Studebaker, Studebaker became the third most popular American car in Belgium, behind Ford and Chevrolet.

As the auto industry recovered from the hiatus created by war, it was beginning to become clear that in Belgium, as in much of Europe, the future for volume auto-manufacturing lay with smaller cars than those designed for North America, and from 1954 the plant started to assemble Volkswagens alongside the Studebakers. At this time the plant covered an area of more than 314,000 square meters, and the workforce of 750 people were producing approximately 75 cars per day. On 13 May 1960 the 100,000th Volkswagen came off the Brussels production line. Also in 1960, with Studebaker obliged by their delicate financial position to concentrate management attention on their domestic situation, production of Studebakers in Brussels came to an end and the plant concentrated on building Volkswagens and the Porsches which now were also assembled here.

In the two decades till 1970, the business retained its independence and flourished. By 1970 the plant had produced 835,236 cars, of which more than 95% (795,581) were Volkswagen Beetles. More than 2% (21,675) were Studebakers and most of the rest were Volkswagen vans or Porsches. D‘Ieteren surrendered the plant at the end of 1970 after which full ownership transferred to Volkswagen. However, the business continued in the auto distribution business, and in 2012 D’Ieteren remains the distributor in Belgium of the various Volkswagen brands: Volkswagen, Audi, Škoda, Seat, Lamborghini, Bentley and Bugatti, currently account for 22% of the Belgian passenger car market. D‘Ieteren also owns various car related businesses in Belgium including the "Carglass" windscreen replacement company.

...
Wikipedia