Audi plans first US SUV plant in Georgia, with 200,000 vehicles a year

Trump announces the plant at a rally

Donald Trump announced on Saturday, 24 October, at a campaign rally in Georgia that Audi would build a large factory in the state producing 200,000 cars a year. He then called Audi chief Gernot Döllner onto the stage, and Döllner thanked the president for his support ahead of the midterm elections on 3 November. The rally took place fewer than ten days before the vote, in which Republicans are defending narrow majorities in both chambers of Congress. Since the start of his second term in January 2025, Trump has pressed foreign companies to move production to the United States, offering to lift tariffs on imports from firms that do so.

Trump told the crowd how large the plan was.

“Think of that. 200,000 cars a year. That's incredible.”

Döllner, cheered by Trump supporters, called the investment a long-term commitment to the country.

“This is a long-term investment, because we believe in the American market.”

Investment, jobs and timing

Audi expects to invest about four billion US dollars (around 3.6 billion euros) and create around 4,500 jobs, while Trump put the investment at 4.2 billion dollars. Two versions of the timetable circulate: WiWo cites an Audi statement with construction starting in 2027 and production in the early 2030s, while Handelsblatt reports earthworks this year, construction in 2028 and full capacity of 200,000 units a year in 2031. The plant would sit on the Middle Georgia Megasite near Macon, an area of about 620 hectares that Handelsblatt says had already been marketed to carmakers and whose plans include a test track. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, said in a statement that the state was proud Audi had chosen it for its first US plant, and that the site had been bought and expanded for exactly that purpose.

Two-stage plan and tariff talks

Handelsblatt, citing people familiar with the plans, describes a two-step approach. As an immediate measure, Audi would build a model designed for the US market at Volkswagen's Scout plant in South Carolina, on a Scout platform, and Volkswagen acquired the US heritage brand in 2021. Over the long term, Audi would build its own SUVs in Georgia, with Handelsblatt naming the Q7 and Q9 while DIE WELT lists the Q7, Q8 and Q9. DIE WELT also reports 25,000 vehicles planned for South Carolina, a report Audi had declined to confirm before Trump's speech.

Georgia plant200,000

South Carolina (per DIE WELT)25,000

Georgia plant

200000 vehicles

South Carolina (per DIE WELT)

25000 vehicles

Data from the article text

According to Handelsblatt insiders, tariff relief is the bigger prize for Volkswagen and forms part of the talks with the US government. The newspaper also reported that Audi had held advanced talks with US government and Georgia officials about financial support, and that supervisory board chairman Manfred Döss travelled to Washington early in the week.

Pressure on German carmakers and US tariffs

Trump's 25 percent tariffs on foreign vehicles and auto parts have hit Volkswagen hard, according to The New York Times. Audi imports every vehicle it sells in the United States from Europe or Mexico, and the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, builds only the Atlas SUV. DIE WELT notes that Audi's home market faces cost cuts, with 7,500 jobs being removed and the job guarantee questioned. German carmakers have expanded US production to avoid the tariff surcharges, and Mercedes presented updated GLE and GLS models at its Tuscaloosa, Alabama plant with US Transportation Minister Sean Duffy in the audience.