PERRY, Ga. — President Donald Trump announced Saturday that German automaker Audi will invest $4.2 billion to erect its first U.S. assembly plant in central Georgia.
Addressing attendees at a campaign rally in Perry, Trump stated that the proposed plant near Macon will be designed to assemble roughly 200,000 vehicles annually. The president credited his administration’s tariff strategy for motivating the foreign luxury brand to expand domestic operations, ABC News reported.
Audi, a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, confirmed the major project through a news release. The company indicated that the project should generate approximately 4,500 jobs in the region. Construction crews are scheduled to break ground in 2027, with the start of vehicle assembly anticipated in the early 2030s.
Major expansion into central Georgia
Gernot Döllner, the chairman of Audi’s management board, appeared beside Trump at the campaign event. Döllner told rally attendees that the future complex would assemble the automaker’s “biggest and most premium SUVs,” according to reports by ABC News and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“This is a long-term investment, because we believe in the American market,” Döllner said during his remarks.
According to reporting from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the facility is slated for Peach County along the north side of Georgia State Route 96. The property sits roughly 5 miles west of Interstate 75 on the eastern edge of Fort Valley, placing it within commuting distance of Macon.
Political backdrop ahead of midterm vote
The timing of the announcement placed heavy economic news right before voters in a crucial swing state. Trump’s rally was organized to bolster Republican candidates in competitive contests ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, where the party is fighting to maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
Georgia has served as a central battleground in federal politics, with Trump winning the state in 2024 after Democrats captured it in 2020. Among the candidates appearing on the midterm ballot is U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, who is campaigning to defeat Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.
Rick Jackson, the Republican nominee running for Georgia governor, also addressed the rally audience and welcomed the automotive investment. Jackson offered thanks for bringing “the biggest economic deal in Georgia history” to the state, ABC News reported.
Republicans enter the final stretch of the election cycle confronting voter unease over elevated living costs and the military conflict in Iran, ABC News noted. Trump pushed back on economic criticism by pointing to industrial commitments, telling the crowd, “Think of that. 200,000 cars a year. That’s incredible.”
While the company has marked the early 2030s for the start of commercial production, local officials and state development agencies will now prepare infrastructure around the Peach County site to accommodate the facility before construction begins in 2027.
