Audi to build its first US factory in Georgia, Trump announces

Audi will build its first-ever factory in the United States in Macon, Georgia, President Donald Trump announced on Saturday at a midterm campaign rally in Perry, Georgia, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“I’m thrilled to announce a massive auto manufacturing investment in the great state of Georgia by a fantastic company,” Trump said, pegging the investment at $4.2 billion and calling it the biggest single investment in US auto industry history, the Journal reported. Audi chief executive Gernot Döllner joined Trump onstage, saying: “We are planning to bring our biggest and most premium SUVs, and produce them here in Macon.”

The plant will produce 200,000 cars a year and create about 4,500 jobs, with production slated to start in the early 2030s, the Journal reported. Trump said construction would begin next month. Reuters, citing a government official, reported the plant would assemble the Q7, Q8 and Q9 SUVs, and that Audi also plans to build 25,000 vehicles in South Carolina.

The move comes as Trump has pressed automakers to build more vehicles in the United States and imposed significant tariffs on foreign-made cars and trucks, Reuters reported. Audi is the only German auto brand without a US factory, while rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz already produce cars in the South, the Journal noted.