Audi will build its first-ever U.S. factory in Georgia, a roughly $4 billion assembly plant near Macon that will produce 200,000 SUVs a year and create about 4,500 jobs, President Donald Trump announced Saturday at a midterm campaign rally in Perry, Georgia.
“I’m thrilled to announce a massive auto manufacturing investment in the great state of Georgia by a fantastic company,” Trump said at the rally.
Audi Chief Executive Gernot Döllner joined Trump onstage and said: “We are planning to bring our biggest and most premium SUVs, and produce them here in Macon, Georgia.” He added: “This is a long-term investment because we believe in the American market.”
What the plant will build
Audi said construction is scheduled to begin next year, with production starting in the early 2030s. The plant is expected to assemble the Audi Q7, Q8 and Q9 SUVs, a U.S. official told Reuters.
Audi also plans to build 25,000 vehicles a year in neighboring South Carolina, the official said. Those vehicles would be assembled at a $2 billion plant of Volkswagen’s off-road brand Scout Motors that is under construction in Blythewood, near Columbia.
Tariffs drove the decision
Audi, Volkswagen’s premium subsidiary, is the only German auto brand without a U.S. factory. It imports all of the vehicles it sells in the American market from Europe or Mexico, and last year Trump’s tariffs dealt the company a 1.2-billion-euro ($1.4-billion) blow.
Trump, who has pressured automakers to move production to the United States and has raised tariffs on autos, steel, aluminum and parts, is eager to make the case that his auto tariffs are helping the U.S. economy. Critics say the tariffs have boosted vehicle prices and that trade uncertainty has delayed some automaker investments.
For central Georgia, the plant means about 4,500 jobs in a battleground state where Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff is defending his seat against Republican Representative Mike Collins, and a tight governor’s race is also under way ahead of the November 3 midterms.
Sources: Reuters; The Wall Street Journal.
