According to foreign media reports, recently, Audi, a high-end brand of the Volkswagen Group, is considering building a new factory in the United States, which is one of a number of options it is evaluating to ease tensions with President Trump in the tariff dispute.
The report pointed out that Audi is studying the possibility of building a factory in the southern United States, which is a more expensive option among many options, and company sources expect the plant to cost up to 4 billion euros (about $4.6 billion).
Image source: Audi Automobiles
An Audi spokesperson said the company plans to further expand its business in the U.S. market. The spokesperson emphasized in an email statement: “We are comprehensively evaluating a number of feasibility options and will work with the (Volkswagen) Group to finalize the details of the specific implementation plan within the year.” This statement reiterates the company’s previous position.
The Audi brand has not yet established a separate production base in the United States, but its parent company, Volkswagen Group, has operated a vehicle plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is building a second production site near Columbia, South Carolina. Audi’s German rivals, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, also have major production plants in the United States.
An industry representative said that the Trump administration’s comprehensive tariff policy has caused export-oriented German automakers to lose hundreds of millions of euros.
According to sources, in order to mitigate the impact of tariffs, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen are negotiating with the U.S. government on a possible import tariff agreement, trying to use investment and exports in the United States as a bargaining chip to reduce the negative impact of tariffs.
Mercedes-Benz Group CEO Ola Kaellenius recently revealed that the company has proposed that the United States and the EU establish a mutual tariff exemption mechanism for automobiles, that is, for every American car allowed to enter the European market duty-free, EU car companies can receive the same number of duty-free quotas for exporting cars to the United States.
“We have submitted this plan to both the United States and the European Union, which is expected to be a viable part of the US-EU negotiations,” Kaellenius said. He added that such agreements, if passed, may set a precedent and model for other industries.
