Trump Announces Audi's First US Plant, a $4.2 Billion Project Near Macon

President Donald Trump announced on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at a midterm campaign rally in Perry, Georgia, that Audi will build an automobile plant near Macon, its first factory in the United States. Trump said Audi would commit $4.2 billion to the plant and that it would produce 200,000 cars a year. He called the commitment the biggest single investment in United States auto industry history. Audi chief executive Gernot Dollner joined Trump on stage at the rally.

What Audi says it will build

Audi said in a news release that the plant would create approximately 4,500 jobs and would produce its biggest and most premium SUVs. Dollner said on stage: "We are planning to bring our biggest and most premium SUVs, and produce them here in Macon." In its statement, Audi said: "Georgia combines an investment-ready site, skilled workforce, established automotive supplier network and strong logistics infrastructure. The plant will be designed around Audi's future manufacturing requirements." Georgia officials said the facility is expected to produce premium SUVs for the North American market.

Two different timetables

Trump told the rally that construction will begin next month. Audi gave a different timetable in its own news release. The company said construction is scheduled to begin in 2027 and production is scheduled to begin in the early 2030s. The two timetables do not match, and this report keeps them separate. A move to build Audi vehicles in the United States had been under consideration for at least two decades, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The last German brand without a US plant

Audi is the German luxury brand owned by Volkswagen, and it is the only German auto brand without a factory in the United States. Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz all produce cars in factories across the American South. Trump credited his tariff policies for the company's decision to build the plant. Dollner said: "This is a long-term investment, because we believe in the American market." Trump also touted what he described as $40 billion in broader auto industry investments that he said would create 30,000 jobs, Fox Business reported.

A rally with Georgia races at stake

The rally in Perry was held to boost Republican candidates in Georgia ahead of the midterm elections on November 3, 2026. Trump backed Representative Mike Collins, who is trying to unseat Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff, and Rick Jackson, the Republican candidate for governor against former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. Jackson said at the rally: "Thank you on behalf of Georgia for putting the biggest economic deal in Georgia history right here today." An AJC poll cited by the New York Post put Ossoff ahead of Collins by 48 percent to 40 percent, with 12 percent undecided.