DETROIT — Audi's CEO defended the carmaker's plans for a new $4 billion plant in Georgia on Sunday, calling it a business decision aimed at growing sales and reducing exposure to U.S. tariffs.
The plant, set to be Audi's first in the U.S., was announced Saturday by President Donald Trump during a rally in Georgia, near where the Volkswagen-owned luxury brand plans to build the new SUV-producing facility.
"We have significantly greater ambitions for Audi in America," Audi CEO Gernot Dollner said during a media roundtable Sunday. "The United States is the second largest premium market in the world, and today we are not fully exploiting this potential. We are changing that."
The announcement comes amid an intense restructuring of its VW parent company, including plans to cut 50,000 jobs and close four German plants, including an Audi facility, between 2031 and 2034.
Dollner, who joined Trump at the rally, said the decision for a plant in the U.S. was years in the making, with more than 70 locations evaluated over "many months" and "intense" negotiations with public officials.