Audi Plans Its Own US Plant in Georgia With $4 Billion Investment
Audi, the Volkswagen subsidiary, is to build its own plant in the United States, according to an announcement made at a Republican campaign event with US President Donald Trump on October 24 in Perry, Georgia. Some questions remain open, DW reports.
Trump said Audi is investing four billion dollars in the plant, which is to turn out around 200,000 vehicles a year. Audi CEO Gernot Döllner confirmed Trump's statements. "We plan to produce our largest and highest-quality SUVs here in Macon, Georgia," he said, adding: "This is a long-term investment because we believe in the American market."
Jobs and timeline
According to Audi, the investment will create about 4,500 jobs. Construction at the Macon site is planned to begin next year, and production is to start in the early 2030s. A US government official told Reuters the plant would assemble the Audi Q7, Q8 and Q9 models.
Audi currently imports vehicles for the US market from Europe and Mexico. A US plant of its own has been on the wish list of the Ingolstadt company for more than a decade.
Political backdrop
The announcement plays into the president's hands. US midterm elections take place on November 3 and his Republicans risk losing their majority in Congress; in Georgia, the governor is also being elected. Trump wants to show that his tariff policy helps the US economy. Republican Senator Bernie Moreno said the Audi plant "would never have come about without business-friendly regulation". Critics argue that the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration have made cars more expensive and delayed investment.
Approval still pending
Despite the statements by Trump and Döllner, the Volkswagen supervisory board's approval is still outstanding, and the announcement is likely to cause discussion there. Lower Saxony's Minister-President Olaf Lies said it is strategically right to tap the US market better, but not at the expense of German plants. "Growth in America must secure work and value creation here and must not displace it," he said. Wolfsburg in Lower Saxony is home to the main plant of the Volkswagen group, to which Audi belongs.
IG Metall chief Christiane Benner, who is also deputy chair of Volkswagen's supervisory board, demanded binding prospects for employees at all sites. An IG Metall spokesman said it is more than strange for a German car boss to become the campaign helper of a US president who wants to turn German carmakers into American ones. "Trump never concealed what he is after: he wants to weaken our domestic economy, above all the auto industry; value creation and jobs are to migrate across the Atlantic, and his tariff policy is the tool," the spokesman said.
VW management and the works council are currently in dispute over the group's course. VW CEO Blume wants to cut a further 50,000 jobs worldwide by 2030. From 2030, production at four German plants is in question, including the Audi factory in Neckarsulm.
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