Audi to Build $4 Billion Georgia Factory, Announced by Trump at Midterm Campaign Rally

Audi will spend $4 billion on its first U.S. factory, in Georgia, a project expected to create 4,500 jobs. President Donald Trump announced it at a midterm campaign rally in Perry, Georgia, on Saturday, with Audi chief executive Gernot Döllner on stage. The plant, in Macon, is to build 200,000 SUVs, including the Q7, Q8 and Q9, with some production moving from Bratislava, Slovakia. Trump said construction starts in 2027, and Audi expects production by the early 2030s. Audi, which imports all its U.S.-sold cars from Europe or Mexico, is the last major German brand without a U.S. plant; BMW and Mercedes-Benz already have plants in the South. Audi raised prices on several models last year, and it says tariffs cut its 2025 profits by about $1.4 billion. It expects a similar hit this year. The U.S. tariff on EU imports is 15%.

Left-leaning outlets (The Guardian, The New York Times) frame the plant around Audi and Volkswagen's difficulties. The Guardian's headline notes job cuts at home and cites Chinese competition, the costly shift to electric vehicles and Trump's tariffs. It also says Republicans are polling poorly, points to fuel prices tied to the Iran war, and says U.S. vehicle and parts employment has fallen since Trump took office. The Times headline attributes the news to Trump and stresses that tariffs hit Audi hard. Right-leaning Daily Wire leads with a win for American workers and says the tariffs paid off. It quotes Trump calling the investment massive and saying firms avoid tariffs by building in America, and it relays his claim that this is the largest single U.S. auto investment in decades. It adds the construction timeline and calls the plant one of several campaign-trail investment announcements. Both sides give the $4 billion, the 4,500 jobs and the tariff cost to Audi, but they differ on whether the plant shows tariffs working or a company under pressure. Alternative or independent outlets had not reported the story at the time of writing; only left- and right-leaning outlets had.