Audi picks Georgia for its first US factory: $4 billion, 4,500 jobs, but no cars until the 2030s

Audi plans to build its first U.S. assembly plant near Macon, Georgia, with President Donald Trump announcing the project on Saturday at a midterm campaign rally in Perry. CNBC, citing Reuters, reports a plant of about $4 billion making 200,000 SUVs a year. Fox Business quotes Trump putting the figure at $4.2 billion. We use "about $4 billion" and note that the two figures differ.

What is confirmed, and when it happens

Audi said the plant will create approximately 4,500 jobs, according to the Reuters report. Audi CEO Gernot Doellner called it "a long-term investment because we believe in the American market." The detail that tempers the rally rhetoric is the schedule: Audi said construction begins next year and production starts in the early 2030s. Trump told the crowd construction could start next month, per Fox Business. We could not reconcile the two timelines, and the company's own date is the one we would plan around.

A U.S. official told Reuters the plant is expected to assemble the Q7, Q8 and Q9 SUVs, and that Audi also plans 25,000 vehicles a year in South Carolina at the $2 billion Scout Motors plant under construction in Blythewood. We have not seen an Audi or Volkswagen filing confirming the South Carolina volume.

The tariff number behind the announcement

Reuters says Audi imports every car it sells in the U.S. from Europe or Mexico, and that last year's tariffs cost it 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion). Its U.S. sales are down 16% this year, and global sales fell 7% in the first half of 2026. Building here is the way around that cost, but not before the early 2030s. For the next several years, Audi buyers and dealers are still exposed to the tariff on imports.

Volkswagen’s U.S.-traded ADR (VWAGY) closed at $7.64 on Oct. 23, 40.3% below its Dec. 12, 2025 high, by our chart of Yahoo Finance data. That is Friday’s close; the announcement came after the market shut.

Who feels it, and when

• Central Georgia contractors and suppliers: construction is the near-term work, with the first jobs years before the plant produces anything. Subcontractors bidding site, concrete and electrical work are the first to see demand.
• Local employers: 4,500 plant jobs will compete for workers in the Macon area when hiring begins, which is years away on Audi’s timeline.
• Independent auto repair shops: no change soon. CheckThisBiz lists 7,348 independent auto repair shops in Georgia and 224,738 nationally, chains excluded; see our auto repair playbook. Cars from this plant will not reach service bays until well into the next decade.

The political frame

Reuters notes that Georgia has competitive Senate and governor races on the Nov. 3 ballot, and that Trump is arguing his auto tariffs are helping the economy. Critics, it adds, say the tariffs raised vehicle prices and that trade uncertainty has delayed some investment. Reuters also says U.S. employment in vehicle and parts manufacturing has fallen since Trump took office. Both sides’ claims are about the same announcement, and neither can be tested until the plant exists. For the wider trade picture, see our tariff coverage and the markets page.

Sources: CNBC (Reuters), Fox Business, Yahoo Finance, CheckThisBiz directory. This is market information, not investment advice.