Audi plans $4 billion Georgia plant with 4,500 jobs and $63,000 average pay

Audi's planned first U.S. factory would need about 4,500 workers, and Georgia officials say pay across the plant will average more than $63,000 a year. The $4 billion project is not yet final: Volkswagen Group, Audi's parent, said the decision to build the plant "is still subject to approval by the relevant committees."

Those jobs would arrive in stages. Site grading at the Middle Georgia Megasite in Peach County is scheduled for 2027, construction for 2028, and full production of 200,000 vehicles a year for 2031, according to the announcement from Gov. Brian Kemp's office. Audi's own statement put the start of production in "the early 2030s." State officials told reporters on Monday that the deal is awaiting final approval from Audi's board, FOX 5 Atlanta reported.

Georgia is pitching the work as skilled. Pat Wilson, the state's economic development commissioner, gave the $63,000 average at Monday's news conference. "This is not the manufacturing of yesteryear," he said. "This is robotics. These are high-skilled jobs." The state's announcement promised only that wages for all roles "will be well-paying in the local market."

The pipeline for those workers is still being built. Georgia Quick Start, the state's workforce training program, will design a customized curriculum with Audi and a dedicated training facility, according to the state. Until that facility is finished, instruction will begin at local Technical College System of Georgia campuses. FOX 5 reported that the training is meant to prepare workers for assembly, maintenance and advanced manufacturing roles.

The local side is also unfinished. The Mid-Georgia Gateway Joint Development Authority, a partnership of Peach, Houston and Macon-Bibb counties that marketed the site, describes its role as supporting incoming companies through long-term workforce recruitment. Its chairman, Roy Lewis, said the authority is "excited to continue conversations with Audi, the State of Georgia, and countless regional and state partners to build out programs that will prepare Georgians for the high-skill jobs of the future."

The planned hiring may not stop at the factory gate. Audi said the investment is expected to create opportunities for suppliers, service providers and training partners in the region. Gerd Walker, its board member for production and logistics, said building from scratch lets the company "develop a strong local supplier network." Audi cited proximity to an established automotive supply chain as one reason for choosing Georgia, along with speed to market, workforce and access to consumers.

For scale, Toyota said in July it would spend $3.6 billion on a truck assembly line in San Antonio, creating 2,000 jobs by 2030. Audi's plan carries more than twice the job count for a similar outlay.

President Donald Trump announced the plant on Saturday at a rally in Perry, about 20 minutes from the site, as he campaigned for Republicans ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms. "We are planning to bring our biggest and most premium SUVs, and produce them here in Macon, Georgia," Audi CEO Gernot Doellner said at the event. CNBC reported that a U.S. official told Reuters the factory is expected to assemble the Q7, Q8 and Q9 SUVs.

The Georgia plant is not Audi's only planned U.S. production. CNBC, citing the same official who spoke to Reuters, reported that Audi also plans to build 25,000 vehicles a year at Volkswagen's $2 billion Scout Motors plant under construction in Blythewood, South Carolina.

The pressures behind the move are visible in Audi's numbers. Tariffs cost the company 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) last year because it imports all of its U.S. vehicles from Europe or Mexico, and its U.S. sales are down 16% this year, CNBC reported. In Germany, Audi's Neckarsulm plant is one of four Volkswagen plants that could close after 2030. Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican, said the Georgia plant "would never have happened without tariffs, without common sense regulations and without eliminating California's ability to regulate fuel economy standards." The plant arrives against a weaker backdrop: U.S. employment in vehicle and parts manufacturing has fallen since Trump took office last year, according to CNBC.

The deal began two years ago, when Kemp pitched the site to Audi executives at the Munich Security Conference, FOX 5 reported. What Georgia put on the table to win it remains undisclosed. Pressed on taxpayer-funded incentives, Wilson said the state would follow the practice used for other automaker projects, with a website and explanations. "You should be getting plenty of information," he said, adding that it "should be coming very soon."