PERRY: Audi plans a $4 billion Georgia factory that could produce 200,000 SUVs annually and create about 4,500 jobs, subject to final Volkswagen supervisory board approval. President Donald Trump announced the investment at a campaign rally in Perry on Saturday.
Audi Chief Executive Gernot Doellner joined Trump on stage and defended the appearance on Sunday after German labour representatives criticised it.
Doellner said Audi had spent months planning and negotiating the investment. He said attending the rally showed “respect for the office and for the country”.
Audi currently imports all vehicles sold in the United States from Europe or Mexico. The company said US tariffs on cars, parts, steel and aluminium cost it about €1.2 billion ($1.4 billion) last year.
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IG Metall criticised Doellner’s public appearance with Trump during the election campaign. Union leader Christiane Benner supported improving Volkswagen’s position in the US market. However, she called for clear protections for workers at German plants.
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Lower Saxony Premier Olaf Lies took a similar position. He said growth in America should support German jobs, not displace them.
Construction is scheduled to begin next year. Audi expects production to start in the early 2030s. A US official told Reuters that the plant could assemble the Audi Q7, Q8 and Q9 sport utility vehicles.
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Audi also plans to produce 25,000 vehicles annually at Volkswagen’s $2 billion Scout Motors factory in Blythewood, South Carolina.
