Audi Will Build SUVs in Georgia — Here's Why It Won't Help Buyers Until the 2030s
The $4 billion Peach County plant will build up to 200,000 SUVs a year, but Audi hasn't named a single model, and production won't start before the early 2030s.
Audi will build its first U.S. factory in Georgia, a roughly $4 billion plant dedicated to SUVs designed for American buyers. The catch for anyone shopping for an Audi today is the calendar: the first vehicles aren't due until the early 2030s, so every Audi sold in the U.S. will keep arriving from Mexico or Europe for several more model years.
SUVs are where the plant can matter most. As our breakdown of Audi's third-quarter U.S. sales showed, the Q5 and Q3 alone made up 46% of the brand's American volume, and four SUV lines accounted for 72%.
What Audi has committed to
The plant will sit on the Middle Georgia Mega Site in Peach County, a 1,474-acre parcel along Georgia Highway 96 near Interstate 75, according to local station WGXA. Audi says it plans to invest about $4 billion, hire roughly 4,500 people, and build up to 200,000 vehicles a year once the site is running.
The two official timelines don't line up exactly. Audi's announcement says construction starts in 2027 and production in the early 2030s. Georgia's version is more specific: site grading in 2027, construction in 2028, and full production in 2031.
For scale, Audi delivered 107,667 vehicles in the U.S. through the first nine months of this year, so the plant's capacity exceeds what the brand currently sells here in three quarters. Audi also says it expects to announce more U.S. investments, without giving details. CEO Gernot Döllner framed the project as a bid to grow the business, "not simply about building a factory."
Why buyers won't see a difference for years
Audi is late to American manufacturing compared with its closest rival. BMW's Spartanburg plant in South Carolina builds X-badged SUVs at a rate of more than 1,500 vehicles a day and employs over 11,000 people, according to BMW. Audi's best-selling Q5, by contrast, comes from San José Chiapa in Mexico, which has built the model since 2016.
That supply chain has been expensive lately. European-built cars face a 15% U.S. tariff under the 2025 trade framework, down from 25%, and Reuters reported in March that tariffs on Audis imported from Mexico and Europe cost the company about €1.2 billion last year. Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume said in January that the Audi plant wasn't progressing and that incentive talks hadn't produced results, Bloomberg reported.
Audi's U.S. release doesn't mention tariffs. Its global statement cites lower exposure to trade and currency risks and calls North America a third production pillar alongside Europe and China. Until Georgia opens, though, any duties stay baked into the cost of every Audi that crosses the border.
What Audi hasn't said
The company hasn't named the models the plant will build, the platform they'll ride on, or whether they'll be electric, plug-in hybrid, or gas-powered. It also hasn't said whether the plant will share anything with other Volkswagen Group operations, including Scout Motors' new plant in South Carolina, which is due to start customer deliveries in 2028.
Georgia's announcement lists no incentive figure. The state says it bought and improved the megasite and will set up a dedicated worker-training program and facility.
The announcement comes weeks after Volkswagen outlined a dedicated North America strategy as part of its broader restructuring. The next milestones to watch are a product announcement for the plant, the details of Georgia's incentive package, and the additional U.S. investments Audi says are coming.
