Audi to build first U.S. plant: $4 billion SUV factory in Georgia
Audi plans to build 200,000 large SUVs a year in the U.S. state of Georgia. Trump announced the plans at an appearance in Perry, hailing them as a success of his tariff policy.
Symbolic image · Photo: Alexander Migl / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Volkswagen subsidiary Audi is planning its first assembly plant in the United States. According to U.S. President Donald Trump, who announced the project at a rally in Perry near Macon, Georgia, on Saturday, about $4 billion will be invested and 200,000 SUVs built each year. Audi is talking about some 4,500 jobs, according to Reuters. Construction is to start next year, with production beginning in the early 2030s. According to a U.S. administration official, the Q7, Q8 and Q9 models will be built there.
“We plan to bring our largest and most premium SUVs here and produce them right here in Macon, Georgia,” Audi CEO Gernot Döllner said. In addition, Audi plans to have 25,000 vehicles a year built at the Scout Motors plant in Blythewood, South Carolina, according to a U.S. administration official. Audi currently imports all cars for the U.S. market from Europe or Mexico; tariffs cost the carmaker about 1.2 billion euros last year, according to Reuters. U.S. sales this year are 16% below last year's level.
Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio said tariffs, deregulation and limits on California's fuel-consumption rules made the plant possible. Critics, however, point out that tariffs have raised car prices and that trade policy uncertainty has delayed investment. The announcement comes in the final stretch of the campaign ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections. In Germany, Audi's Neckarsulm plant is considered one of four German VW sites that could be closed after 2030.