Audi has said it plans to spend $4 billion to build its first US factory in Macon, Georgia, The Guardian reports. CEO Gernot Döllner announced the plan alongside President Donald Trump at a Saturday-night rally. Audi aims to build 200,000 Q7, Q8 and Q9 SUVs at the factory and create 4,500 jobs. Some production would move from Bratislava, Slovakia.
Döllner described the proposed factory as a long-term investment. “This is a long-term investment because we believe in the American market,” he said at the rally, as quoted by The Guardian. Volkswagen has said it sees continuing US demand for Audi’s large petrol SUVs.
The plan comes as parent company Volkswagen has started to cut as many as 100,000 jobs and close factories in Germany, according to the report. Volkswagen has blamed those job losses on Chinese competition, tariffs and the need to invest in electric vehicles for markets outside the US.
Audi has faced a 15% US tariff on imports from the EU. Volkswagen has estimated that Trump’s tariffs cost it up to €5 billion a year before the effect of lower sales, The Guardian reports. Those pressures provide context for the announcement, but the report does not establish that tariffs alone prompted the Georgia plan.
