On the Dash:
- Audi plans to invest $4.2 billion in its first U.S. factory, with annual capacity of up to 200,000 vehicles and production expected to begin in the early 2030s.
- The plant is expected to build the Q7, Q8 and Q9 SUVs, with roughly half of its output designated for export markets.
- Local production could help Audi reduce tariff costs and strengthen its position in the U.S. luxury market as the brand works to recover from declining sales in China and a 16% drop in U.S. deliveries from 2024 to 2025.
Over the weekend, President Trump announced that Audi will build its first-ever $4 billion U.S. factory in Macon, Ga., marking the latest move by a global automaker to focus on American buyers as sales pressures mount.
At a campaign rally in Perry, Ga., Audi CEO Gernot Döllner said the company plans to build its largest and most premium SUVs at the plant. Additionally, a U.S. official told Reuters the factory will produce the Q7, Q8 and Q9.
While the German automaker puts the investment at about $4 billion, Trump cited a $4.2 billion figure at the rally, and the company expects the facility to create about 4,500 jobs. Audi will begin construction in 2027 and start production in the early 2030s, with capacity for up to 200,000 vehicles annually.
According to the company’s press release, Audi of America President Vito Paladino said the investment will make the automaker a more “significant player” in the U.S. market, with additional details on its U.S. investment and production plans to follow.
Local production targets sales growth
Audi currently imports every vehicle it sells in the U.S. from Europe or Mexico, which leaves the brand directly exposed to tariffs that cost it about 1.2 billion euros, or $1.4 billion, in 2025. Although U.S. tariffs on German vehicles now stand at 15%, down from 25%, Döllner called the factory a business decision that will expand Audi’s U.S. presence and reduce its exposure to those costs.
Audi’s recent sales results help explain why the brand wants a larger American footprint. The automaker sold about 165,000 vehicles in the U.S. in 2025, down 16% from 2024, and sales fell another 16% through September 2026 to about 107,700 vehicles. Meanwhile, China remains Audi’s largest single-country market, but sales there have dropped 19% year over year as consumers shift toward domestic automakers. Notably, the newly launched Q9, the brand’s largest SUV to date, now anchors the renewed U.S. push.
South’s automotive manufacturing network
With the announcement, Audi becomes the last major German luxury automaker to establish U.S. production, following BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Audi said Georgia offers an investment-ready site, skilled workers, an established automotive supplier network and strong logistics infrastructure.
According to Döllner, the company evaluated more than 70 locations before selecting the state, described the project as the result of a three-year process, and said it doesn’t diminish Germany’s role in Audi’s development and technology operations.
Ultimately, Volkswagen, Audi’s parent company, is also expanding its North American focus as it localizes more production, and the factory announcement arrives as the automaker pursues a broader restructuring that includes plans to cut 50,000 jobs across the group and close four German plants between 2031 and 2034.
