Abstract:
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that Audi plans to build a $4 billion assembly plant in Georgia to produce 200,000 SUVs per year. Trump has been pressuring automakers to move production to the United States and has raised tariffs on cars, steel, aluminum and parts. He made the announcement at a rally in Perry, near Macon, Georgia, where Volkswagen's premium brand plans to build its first U.S. assembly plant.
Trump's tariffs cost Audi 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) last year because all of its vehicles for the U.S. market are imported from Europe or Mexico.
Georgia is a hotly contested state in the U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections. Trump is eager to argue that his auto tariffs are helping the U.S. economy. Critics say tariffs have pushed up vehicle prices and trade uncertainty has delayed investments by some automakers.
“We plan to bring our largest and most high-end SUV to production here in Macon, Georgia,” Audi CEO Gernot Derner said at the event. "This is a long-term investment because we believe in the U.S. market."
Republicans say tariffs prompted Audi to build factory in U.S.
Audi said the investment will create approximately 4,500 jobs. Construction is scheduled to begin next year, with production starting in the early 2030s, Audi said.
A U.S. official told Reuters that the plant is expected to assemble the Audi Q7, Q8 and Q9 SUVs.
Audi also plans to produce 25,000 vehicles per year in neighboring South Carolina, the official said. Some of the vehicles currently produced in Europe will be exported. Volkswagen will assemble the vehicles at a $2 billion plant under construction for its off-road brand Scout Motors in Blythewood, near the state capital of Columbia, the official said.
Trump has slashed government incentives for electric vehicles, drastically reducing U.S. electric vehicle and battery production. Employment in U.S. auto and parts manufacturing has declined since Trump took office last year.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, Republican of Ohio, said Saturday night that "with this investment, Audi will produce all of its SUVs exclusively in the United States." He said that the Audi factory "will never happen without tariffs, without common sense regulation, without the removal of California's ability to regulate fuel economy standards."
Audi sales have declined for two consecutive years, down 7% in the first half of 2026, as fierce competition in the market and U.S. tariffs hit demand. Audi's U.S. sales are down 16% this year.
Audi's plant in Neckarsulm in southwestern Germany is one of four German plants that Volkswagen may close after 2030.
In July this year, Japan's Toyota Motor said it would spend $3.6 billion to build a 2.5 million square feet (232,000 square meters) truck assembly line at its San Antonio manufacturing park in Texas and transfer some truck production from Mexico to the United States. The Japanese automaker said it will complete the expansion by 2030 and create 2,000 jobs.
Honda Motors is considering building a U.S. assembly plant but has warned it may not build one unless the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal is extended. Last year, South Korea's Hyundai Motor said that if there was certainty on the USMCA, it would "immediately release more than $20 billion in new U.S. investment."
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