President Trump told a rally crowd in Perry, Georgia, on Saturday that Audi would invest $4.2 billion to build its first-ever American factory, a plant he said would produce 200,000 vehicles a year, while Audi's own announcement put the investment at roughly $4 billion and said the plant would produce up to 200,000 SUVs annually. Vehicle production is projected to begin in the early 2030s, and the project is expected to create about 4,500 jobs at a site in Peach County, near Macon, on what is known as the Middle Georgia megasite.

Audi's parent company, Volkswagen, has not fully finalized the plan. The investment still requires sign-off from Volkswagen's supervisory board, which includes labor representatives, before it becomes official. Audi Chairman of the Board of Management Gernot Döllner appeared alongside Trump at the rally and said the company intends to build its largest and most premium SUVs at the Macon facility.

The announcement arrived as Volkswagen works through a difficult stretch at home. Earlier this year the automaker's supervisory board approved a restructuring plan addressing years of cost pressure in Germany, following months of contentious talks with unions over potential job cuts and the fate of several domestic plants, including an Audi facility in Neckarsulm. Döllner said on Sunday that the Georgia investment was a business decision meant to grow Audi's U.S. sales and reduce its exposure to American tariffs, and he pushed back on the idea that it amounted to a move against Germany, arguing instead that it could help protect jobs there by strengthening Audi's broader global position.

Tariffs sit at the center of the story. Trump has pushed automakers for years to shift production to the United States and has raised duties on imported vehicles, steel, aluminum and auto parts. Audi currently sells vehicles in the U.S. that are built abroad and shipped in, making it exposed to those levies in a way domestic producers are not. Supporters of the tariff policy point to the Georgia plant as evidence it is drawing investment stateside; critics have said the tariffs have also raised vehicle prices and introduced uncertainty that has delayed some automaker investment decisions elsewhere.

The timing was notable. Trump made the announcement less than two weeks before the November midterm elections, framing the investment as a win for American manufacturing and Georgia jobs. News outlets differed slightly on the investment figure, with some reporting $4 billion and others $4.2 billion, a gap that had not been resolved as of Sunday. If completed as described, the plant would mark Audi's entry into U.S. vehicle manufacturing for the first time in the company's history, a shift for a brand that has long built its American-market cars exclusively overseas.

References

1. 1.AP — reported Trump's announcement of the Audi factory at the Georgia rally
2. 2.CNBC — reported the $4 billion investment figure, 200,000 SUV annual production target, and location details
3. 3.Reuters/CNBC — reported a government official's estimate of 200,000 SUVs annually and job creation figures
4. 4.CNBC (Oct 25) — reported Audi CEO Gernot Döllner's comments defending the investment amid tariffs and VW restructuring
5. 5.WGXA — reported the Peach County/Middle Georgia megasite location and $4 billion, 4,500-job estimates
6. 6.The Hill — reported the timing of the announcement ahead of November midterm elections
7. 7.Euronews/CNBC — reported background on Volkswagen's 2026 restructuring plan, job cuts, and the Neckarsulm plant
8. 8.briefs.co — reported the $4.2 billion figure and Döllner's quote about producing premium SUVs in Macon