Audi in the US: $4 billion for a plant in Georgia creating 4,500 jobs

Audi has announced an investment of around 4 billion dollars to build a production plant in Georgia, the German carmaker’s first in the United States. Construction of the plant – designed to have an annual production capacity of up to 200,000 vehicles – is due to begin in 2027, whilst production is scheduled to start in the early 2030s. An estimated 4,500 jobs will be created. In announcing the project, the company is keen to emphasise that “Germany and Europe will remain the industrial heartland of Audi, thanks to their engineering expertise, technological capabilities and manufacturing know-how.”

“The expansion into North America complements the existing production network and supports Audi’s long-term ambition to strengthen its competitiveness on a global scale.” The investment comes at a particular time for the German carmaker, which is owned by Volkswagen and has recently announced a plan for far-reaching restructuring and significant job cuts, involving the loss of 100,000 jobs worldwide.

For its part, the Audi brand closed its accounts for the first half of the year with turnover up 5.2 per cent to 32.6 billion euros, but with a fall in profits and sales, hampered precisely by the burden of tariffs. In September, a majority stake in Italdesign officially passed to the US company UST, which specialises in artificial intelligence, technology and digital engineering, with Audi retaining a 40 per cent stake via Automobile Lamborghini; also in September, the company explained that it was also assessing the future of Ducati, which it had acquired in 2012. “Audi’s future will not be secured solely by cost reductions, greater efficiency or cutting-edge technologies,” emphasises Manfred Döss, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Audi AG. “We need the courage to invest, to seize new opportunities and to make decisions that will shape our company for decades to come. This planned investment demonstrates our determination to do exactly that.”

Through the local production of premium SUVs such as the new Q9, designed for North American customers, Audi is aiming to unlock significant growth potential in one of the world’s most important premium markets, where it is currently operating at a loss. “The planned investment,” the company emphasises, “demonstrates a long-term commitment to the United States and aims to consolidate North America as the third key pillar of Audi’s global production network, alongside Europe and China.”