PERRY, Ga.– President Donald Trump unveiled a $4.2 billion investment from automaker Audi to develop its first manufacturing facility in the United States in nearby Macon.
“I’m thrilled to announce a massive auto manufacturing investment in the great state of Georgia by a fantastic company,” Trump told an enthusiastic rally crowd at the Guardian Centers, where first responders receive advanced training, on Oct. 24.
“This will be the single largest investment in U.S. auto industry history, modern history.”
Construction is set to begin on the Audi plant next month at the approximately 1,500-acre site, with plans for the operation to make 200,000 cars annually. Production is expected to include premium sports utility vehicles, including the brand’s Q7, Q8, and Q9 models.
At least 4,500 jobs will be created, and commercial production is expected by 2031. The move marks the company’s first manufacturing venture in the United States, a decision the president credits to his tariff policies.
Audi Chairman and CEO Gernot Döllner thanked the president and administration officials, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, for helping formalize the agreement.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for Audi, for the Audi team, and for America,” he said during the rally, noting the site’s focus on premium vehicles.
“This is a long-term investment because we believe in the American market.”
In a statement released during the event, Döllner described Audi’s “greater ambitions” to expand.
“We have not yet realized our full potential. We are determined to change that—with premium products, a stronger brand and a competitive local production base,” he said. “This is about building a stronger Audi business in America—not only about building a factory.”
Trump touted the trillions of dollars in new investments “pouring in” to the country during his second term while campaigning for his party’s candidates in the critical battleground state.
The president advised supporters to vote like his name is on the ballot, saying his policies effectively are, while telling them he voted in West Palm Beach, Fla., before flying over for the rally.
He acknowledged the impact of high gasoline and diesel prices on the economy and individuals’ finances and promised lower prices are on the way.
“While oil prices are temporarily high, and will be falling dramatically in a short period of time, as soon as that war is over, because there’s so much oil, all in the Hormuz Strait, there’s ships waiting to come,” Trump said. “Our country is getting stronger and stronger all the time, and those pump prices are going to come down.”
The president made his second stop in Georgia in eight days to generate momentum for Republican Mike Collins, who is challenging incumbent Democrat Sen. John Ossoff.
Collins described his opponent as “a guy that wants to talk like Obama, look like a Kennedy, lie like Pinocchio, and vote like Bernie Sanders.”
Ossoff’s campaign issued a statement saying the senator is a “legislative workhorse and a relentless investigator exposing corruption and the abuse of power.”
Recent polls show Ossoff with a single-digit percentage-point lead with 10 days left before the midterm elections Nov. 3.
Republican gubernatorial nominee Rick Jackson, facing former Atlanta mayor Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, thanked the president for securing the “biggest economic deal in Georgia history.”
Polls show Jackson with a slight edge in a tight contest.
Early voting is underway in the state and continues through Oct. 30, with more than 1 million ballots already cast, as of four days ago, according to the Secretary of State.
One voter in attendance said she’s new to the political scene but became interested when she realized the impact leaders have on the economy.
“I would like to see more illegals taken out of the country and justice for Americans to have better paying jobs,” Christy Sillis, of Bonaire, Georgia, told The Epoch Times during the rally. “We are already struggling on a two-income home. The price of things to live go up, and our wages stay the same.”
Treasurer Brandon Beach energized the crowd by holding up one of the new Trump dollar coins, available at banks next month.
He urged attendees to spend the coins at “liberal coffee shops” and “watch their heads explode.”
Country music star and Macon-area native Jason Aldean called on the audience to get out and vote before he introduced the president.
Trump was last in Georgia on Oct. 16 for a rally in Dalton. He is touring the nation to boost support for the GOP, with stops in Michigan, Mississippi, Texas, Ohio, and Iowa next on his schedule.
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