Audi plans first U.S. factory in Georgia with 200,000-car annual capacity

Audi says the plant will create about 4,500 jobs

President Trump announced Saturday at a midterm campaign rally in Perry, Georgia, that Audi will build the German luxury automaker’s first U.S. factory in Macon. Trump said the plant will produce 200,000 cars annually and that construction will begin next month. Audi said the factory will create about 4,500 jobs and that production is slated to start in the early 2030s.

Trump said, “I’m thrilled to announce a massive auto manufacturing investment in the great state of Georgia by a fantastic company.” Audi Chief Executive Gernot Döllner, who joined Trump onstage, said, “We are planning to bring our biggest and most premium SUVs, and produce them here in Macon.”

Trump pegged the investment at $4.2 billion and called the move the biggest single investment in U.S. auto industry history. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Audi cited Georgia’s investment-ready site, skilled workforce, established automotive supplier network and strong logistics infrastructure as reasons for locating the plant in Macon. The company said the factory would be designed around Audi’s future manufacturing requirements.

The Macon plant would give Audi its first U.S. production base as the automaker renewed its emphasis on the U.S. market. A move to build Audi vehicles in the U.S. had been under consideration for at least two decades. Audi is the only German auto brand without a U.S. factory. Its corporate cousin Volkswagen, and direct rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz, all produce cars in factories across the South, in some cases for global export.

Audi primarily builds the cars it sells in the U.S. in Germany, Mexico and Central and Eastern Europe. That production footprint left the automaker particularly vulnerable to tariffs in Trump’s second term. Audi hiked prices on several models last year to offset tariff costs. Audi said tariffs hit its profits by about 1.2 billion euros in 2025 and that it expected a similar outcome this year.

Those increased tariff costs come as sales in China—Audi’s largest single-country market—are dropping precipitously. Chinese consumers have largely turned away from Western brands to buy from homegrown automakers in recent years. Audi’s China sales are down 19% year over year. Other global carmakers are also seeking larger shares of the U.S. market as sales fall in China.

Audi earlier this year unveiled the Q9, its largest-ever SUV, aimed at American buyers. The company sold about 165,000 cars in the U.S. last year, down 16% from 2024.

The Wall Street Journal described the investment as handing Trump a win in Georgia, a battleground state in the midterms. Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff is defending his seat against Republican Rep. Mike Collins, while Republican billionaire Rick Jackson is locked in a tight race for governor against former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat.

Building an auto factory and its surrounding supplier ecosystem takes years. Scout Motors, another Volkswagen subsidiary, announced plans for a South Carolina factory in 2023. Initial production there is slated to begin next year, with the first customer deliveries set for 2028.