Trump announces at a Georgia rally that Audi will build its first American factory near Macon

Georgia got the biggest economic announcement of the campaign on Saturday, delivered from a rally stage. President Donald Trump told the crowd in Perry that Audi will build an automobile plant near Macon and commit 4.2 billion dollars to it. "Think of that. 200,000 cars a year. That's incredible," Trump said. He credited his tariff policies for the decision and called the plant the biggest single investment in American auto industry history.

Audi's chief executive, Gernot Dollner, joined Trump on stage. "We are planning to bring our biggest and most premium SUVs, and produce them here in Macon," Dollner said. "This is a long term investment, because we believe in the American market." Audi said in its own release that the plant will create about 4,500 jobs. The company praised Georgia's investment ready site, skilled workforce, supplier network and logistics.

The timelines the two sides gave do not match. Trump said construction would begin next month. Audi's release schedules construction to begin in 2027, with production starting in the early 2030s. The plant is Audi's first in the United States. Audi was the only German auto brand without an American factory. Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes Benz all build cars in the South, some of them for export around the world. A move by Audi to build in America had been under consideration for at least two decades.

The announcement hands Trump an argument in a battleground state nine days before the midterms. Republican Representative Mike Collins is trying to unseat Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff in Georgia, and Republican Rick Jackson is in a tight race for governor against former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. Jackson thanked Trump from the stage and called it the biggest economic deal in Georgia history.