Audi defends decision to stand by Trump on $4B US factory

Audi CEO Gernot Doellner defended the German automaker's planned US$4 billion investment in a new U.S. plant on Sunday. President Donald Trump announced the plan at a campaign rally ahead of the November midterm elections.

Doellner stood alongside Trump at a rally in Perry, near Macon, Georgia, on Saturday. Trump said Audi, part of the Volkswagen Group, planned to build an assembly plant in Georgia that would produce 200,000 SUVs annually.

"This decision was preceded by many months of careful planning and intense negotiations," Doellner told reporters on Sunday. "If the American president invites you, you accept the invitation. That is what respect for the office and for the country in which we invest demands."

Volkswagen's supervisory board will have to approve the investment for it to proceed.

Georgia has competitive races for the U.S. Senate and governor, and Trump is eager to argue that his auto tariffs are helping the U.S. economy and boosting domestic manufacturing.

In Germany, the tariffs have added to pressure on European industry and tensions between Volkswagen's management and workers, who face job cuts and possible plant closures.

The tariffs on autos, steel, aluminum and parts cost Audi around EUR1.2 billion (US$1.4 billion) last year. The company imports all the vehicles it sells in the U.S. from Europe or Mexico.

Critics say the tariffs have also hurt the U.S. by increasing vehicle prices and delaying some automakers' investments.

A spokesperson for Germany's IG Metall union said Doellner's decision to extend a hand to Trump during the election was "hard to understand."

"Trump has never failed to make it clear what he is after: he wants to weaken our domestic economy, particularly the automotive sector," the spokesperson said.

Christiane Benner, head of IG Metall and Volkswagen's deputy supervisory board chair, said it was "right and necessary" to improve the company's position in the U.S. market with a new plant.

"However, firm prospects for workers at all sites, particularly those here in Germany, must be clearly defined and set out," she said.

Doellner declined to provide full details of the investment deal with the U.S., including whether it involves tariff relief for the company.

An opportunity if German workers benefit

Olaf Lies, premier of the German state of Lower Saxony and Volkswagen's second-largest shareholder, said expanded U.S. production was an opportunity, provided German workers also benefit.

"Growth in America must secure jobs and value creation here and must not displace them," he said.

Audi said the investment would create approximately 4,500 jobs. Construction is scheduled to begin next year, with production starting in the early 2030s.

The plant is expected to assemble the Audi Q7, Q8 and Q9 SUVs, a U.S. official told Reuters.

Audi also plans to build 25,000 vehicles a year in neighboring South Carolina, the official said. Some of the vehicles, which are now built in Europe, would be exported, the official added.

Those vehicles will be assembled at a $2 billion plant for Volkswagen's off-road brand Scout Motors, which is under construction in Blythewood, near the state capital, Columbia, the official said.

"We regard the region as a key market for profitable growth," Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume said. "A potential Audi plant in the U.S. would create further conditions for this."

A gold Audi with manufacturer license plates was parked outside Trump's rally on Saturday.