Audi unveils a $4 billion plan for its first U.S. plant in Georgia, but labor leaders say Volkswagen’s board has yet to decide

Audi plans to build its first factory in the United States in central Georgia, the Volkswagen subsidiary announced on Saturday, describing a roughly $4 billion plant for large SUVs. In a release from Ingolstadt timestamped 02:20 on Sunday, German time (5:20 p.m. Saturday on the U.S. West Coast), the company says it “intends to invest around $4 billion and create approximately 4,500 jobs,” and that construction of a plant “designed for an annual production capacity of up to 200,000 vehicles” should begin in 2027, “with production planned to start in the early 2030s” (Audi). The announcement came at a campaign rally for President Donald Trump in Perry, near Macon, as he seeks to convince Americans to back Republicans in the Nov. 3 midterm elections, Reuters reported in a story carried by CNBC (Reuters via CNBC); IG Metall Wolfsburg writes that Audi published its release while Trump’s speech still ran (IG Metall Wolfsburg).

Within hours, worker representatives in Germany pushed back on any sense of a done deal. IG Metall Wolfsburg, the union’s office at Volkswagen’s home base, published statements on Sunday morning under the headline that “finale Entscheidung steht aber erst noch aus” (the final decision still lies ahead) (IG Metall Wolfsburg). A spokesman for the labor side of the Volkswagen AG supervisory board said: “Eine abschließende Entscheidung über den möglicherweise in Frage kommenden Fabrikneubau für Audi in den USA obliegt dem Aufsichtsrat der Volkswagen AG. Eine solche Entscheidung ist derzeit noch nicht getroffen” (a final decision on the possible new Audi factory in the U.S. rests with the supervisory board of Volkswagen AG, and that decision has not yet come). He added that “etliche offene Fragen” (quite a few open questions) remain inside the board’s committees (IG Metall Wolfsburg).

Christiane Benner, who chairs IG Metall and serves as deputy chair of the Volkswagen AG supervisory board, called better access to the U.S. market through a new plant “richtig und notwendig” (right and necessary), but said binding prospects for workers at the German sites must come first: “Hier ist der Vorstand in der Bringschuld” (here the onus lies on the management board) (IG Metall Wolfsburg). Jörg Schlagbauer, who heads Audi’s general works council, said: “Eine belastbare Entscheidung liegt nicht vor” (no reliable decision exists), adding that the company’s responsible bodies had taken no final resolutions and that the future, workload and job security of the German Audi sites keep “höchste Priorität” (top priority) (IG Metall Wolfsburg). The regional broadcaster SWR, in a report on tagesschau.de, likewise cites a works-council spokesman as saying the decision lies with the Volkswagen supervisory board (SWR via tagesschau.de).

Audi’s own release uses the language of intent throughout. It calls the project a plan “to establish its first U.S. production site in Georgia” and says the investment “intends to mark a long-term commitment to the United States and to establish North America as a third major pillar of Audi's global production network alongside Europe and China” (Audi). Chief executive Gernot Döllner says in the release: “We have much greater ambitions for Audi in America. The United States is one of the world's most important premium markets, and we have not yet realized our full potential.” The company argues that a stronger North American presence would help it “reduce exposure to trade and currency risks,” and it quotes Manfred Döss, chairman of the Audi AG supervisory board, saying: “We need the courage to invest, to pursue new opportunities and to make decisions that will shape our company for decades to come” (Audi).

The state of Georgia tells the story with more specifics and a different calendar. In a release dated Oct. 24, the Georgia Department of Economic Development says Audi “plans to invest approximately $4 billion” at the Middle Georgia Megasite, developed by the Development Authority of Peach County in partnership with a joint development authority of Houston, Macon-Bibb and Peach counties (Georgia Department of Economic Development). It states that “Audi expects to begin grading in 2027 and construction on the new facility in 2028,” with “full production” expected in 2031 at 200,000 units a year, a later construction start than the 2027 date in Audi’s own text (Georgia Department of Economic Development; Audi). Governor Brian Kemp says in the state release that Georgia “purchased and made more improvements to the Middle Georgia Megasite for just this purpose,” and the department adds that its Quick Start program will work with Audi to design a designated training facility; it also notes rail access to the ports of Savannah and Brunswick in under five hours. The release does not put a figure on any incentive package (Georgia Department of Economic Development). Kemp also posted photos of the announcement on X, calling it “a truly historic $4 billion investment to Middle Georgia” (@GovKemp on X).

At the rally itself, Döllner spoke from the stage, according to Reuters. “We are planning to bring our biggest and most premium SUVs, and produce them here in Macon, Georgia,” he said, according to Reuters. “This is a long-term investment because we believe in the American market” (Reuters via CNBC). Reuters also noted a gold Audi with manufacturer plates parked outside. Trump used bigger and faster numbers than either release: a clip posted by his campaign account on X quotes him saying that “Audi has just committed to invest $4.2 BILLION in nearby Macon, Georgia to begin the construction next month” (@TeamTrump on X). IG Metall Wolfsburg quotes him as saying it would amount to “die größte Einzelinvestition in der Geschichte der US-Automobilindustrie” (the largest single investment in the history of the U.S. auto industry) (IG Metall Wolfsburg). Neither the Audi release nor the Georgia release makes that claim, and both give a construction start no earlier than 2027.

Tariffs frame the politics of the decision. Reuters reports that Trump’s tariffs “dealt Audi a 1.2 billion euro ($1.4 billion) blow” last year because the brand imports all its U.S. vehicles from Europe or Mexico, and that critics say the tariffs have boosted vehicle prices and that trade uncertainty has delayed some automaker investments (Reuters via CNBC). A U.S. official told Reuters that the Georgia plant should assemble the Q7, Q8 and Q9 SUVs, and that Audi also plans to build 25,000 vehicles a year at the $2 billion Scout Motors plant that Volkswagen has under construction in Blythewood, South Carolina. Senator Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican, said the plant “would never have happened without tariffs,” according to the same report (Reuters via CNBC).

The business backdrop looks difficult. Reuters reports that Audi sales have fallen for two consecutive years, slid 7 percent in the first half of 2026 and dropped 16 percent in the United States this year, and that Audi’s Neckarsulm plant counts among four German Volkswagen plants that could close after 2030 (Reuters via CNBC). SWR reports that the big Q7, Q8 and Q9 SUVs currently come off the line in Bratislava, Slovakia, not Neckarsulm, but that shifting other models to Bratislava in their place would not help Neckarsulm or Ingolstadt, and that Neckarsulm must present proposals for steep cost cuts by June 2027 (SWR via tagesschau.de). The SWR text gives the investment as “vier Milliarden Euro” (four billion euros), while Audi and Georgia both state the figure in dollars (SWR via tagesschau.de; Audi).

Several questions stay open as of this update: when the Volkswagen AG supervisory board will vote, what assurances the labor side will demand for German plants, which timeline holds (Audi’s 2027 construction start or Georgia’s 2028), and what incentives Georgia and local authorities offered. This desk read Reuters through its copy on CNBC; the Associated Press report and a Reuters copy on Investing.com blocked automated access. For more on the auto industry’s recent results, see Tesla’s third-quarter report.