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Audi to build $4bn US factory in Georgia, its first Audi SUV plant in America
Audi will spend $4bn (£3bn) on its first US factory, to be built in Macon, Georgia, with plans for 200,000 SUVs and 4,500 jobs. Chief executive Gernot Döllner announced the plant with Donald Trump at a rally on Saturday night.
By Haut Monde Post
• October 25, 2026
• 3 Min Read
The Audi US factory is the brand's first plant in America, and the $4bn (£3bn) investment is meant to turn out 200,000 SUVs and employ 4,500 people in Macon, Georgia. Chief executive Gernot Döllner revealed the plans on stage alongside Donald Trump on Saturday night.
A Trump rally announcement days before midterms
The staging was unusual for a German carmaker: the head of Audi joining a campaign event just days before the US midterm elections, in which the Republican party is fighting to keep control of both houses of Congress. Döllner said he accepted the invitation out of respect for the US.
"This is a long-term investment because we believe in the American market."
What the Macon plant will build
The new Audi US factory is aimed squarely at American demand for large petrol SUVs, which Audi says remains strong, and the group is planning its largest-ever SUV, the Q9, with the American market in mind.
- •200,000 SUVs planned at the new factory
- •4,500 jobs created
- •Q7, Q8 and Q9 models, with some production shifted from Bratislava in Slovakia
"We are planning to bring our biggest and most premium SUVs, and produce them here in Macon, Georgia," Döllner said at the event.
Tariffs behind the move
Audi is subject to Trump's 15% tariffs on imports from the EU, alongside pressure from the president's efforts to cut sales of battery electric vehicles. Its parent Volkswagen estimates the tariffs cost it up to €5bn (£4.2bn) a year, before any hit from lower sales.
"US tariffs create a significant burden and restrict international trade"
That is how Volkswagen chief executive Oliver Blume put it to investors in July.
Cuts in Germany as Audi expands in the US
The investment lands as Volkswagen shrinks at home. The group has started to cut as many as 100,000 jobs and close factories in Germany, blaming intense competition from Chinese carmakers as well as the tariffs and the need to fund the EV shift for non-US markets.
- •Some production of its cheapest cars, such as the Jetta saloon and Taos SUV, is moving from Mexico to the US
- •This month Volkswagen said it was still struggling with "continued high pressure from import tariffs"
The announcement of the Macon plant comes days before the midterms, with the Republican party polling poorly.
