Audi to Build $4 Billion Georgia Plant With 4,500 Jobs, Trump Announces at Perry Rally

Audi will build its first U.S. factory in middle Georgia, a roughly $4 billion investment expected to create about 4,500 jobs, President Trump announced Saturday at a campaign rally in Perry.

Audi CEO Gernot Döllner joined Trump on stage to share the news, WGXA reported. The plant at the Middle Georgia Megasite in Peach County is expected to build 200,000 vehicles a year.

Grading is set to begin in 2027 and construction in 2028, with full production expected in 2031, according to a release from Gov. Brian Kemp’s office announcing the project.

“We are proud that Audi has selected Georgia as the home of their first U.S. manufacturing facility, delivering truly historic investment and jobs to middle Georgia,” Kemp said in the release.

Döllner said the company has “much greater ambitions for Audi in America, and Georgia will play a central role in making them a reality,” citing the state’s business climate and skilled workforce.

SUVs Now Built in Europe

The plant is expected to assemble the Q7, Q8 and Q9 SUVs, which are currently built in Europe, and some of the vehicles would be exported, a government official told Reuters.

Audi also plans to build 25,000 vehicles at the $2 billion plant that Volkswagen’s Scout Motors brand is building in Blythewood, South Carolina, the official said.

The move comes as Trump presses automakers to shift production to the United States and has raised tariffs on autos, steel, aluminum and parts. Critics say the tariffs have pushed vehicle prices higher.

Audi’s U.S. sales are down 16% this year, and the brand’s global sales slid 7% in the first half of 2026 amid stiff competition in China and the effect of U.S. tariffs.

The factory adds to a run of auto investments in the state, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted, joining Hyundai’s plant near Savannah, Kia’s in West Georgia and Rivian’s project east of Atlanta.

Before the rally, Trump told Atlanta News First the investment meant “Jobs. Jobs, jobs, jobs. And money. Income. It’s very exciting, actually.”

In the same interview, Trump defended the Justice Department’s plan to send election monitors to six Georgia counties, singling out Fulton County. “Well, they want to watch. You know, in Fulton County, you know that disaster,” he said.

“They’re not going to do anything other than watch. And if they see something wrong, we want to all have honest elections,” Trump said. “And the one thing we have to have is honest elections.”

The department has notified Bibb, Cobb, Chatham, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties that monitors will be present on Nov. 3, the AJC reported. All six have delivered solid wins for Democrats in recent elections.

Federal monitoring of Georgia counties is not new. In 2024, under the Biden administration, the department sent monitors to Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett and Macon-Bibb, FOX 5 Atlanta reported at the time.

The Perry rally was staged to boost Republican Rep. Mike Collins, who is challenging Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, and Rick Jackson, the GOP nominee for governor.

Content created by Conservative Daily News and some content syndicated through CDN is available for re-publication without charge under the Creative Commons license. Visit our syndication page for details and requirements.