FORT VALLEY, Ga. — Middle Georgia has landed the biggest auto prize of the year. Audi, the German luxury brand, has chosen the Middle Georgia Megasite as the location of its first manufacturing plant anywhere in the United States, a project the company values at about $4 billion.
The company expects the factory to employ roughly 4,500 people once it is running. At full speed it is designed to turn out as many as 200,000 vehicles a year, and Audi says the lineup will center on premium SUVs built for buyers in North America, with some exported overseas.
Audi set 2027 for the start of construction and the early 2030s for the first finished vehicles. A U.S. official has said the plans include the Q7, Q8 and Q9 SUVs, though the company itself has not confirmed specific models.
The megasite covers about 1,500 acres next to Fort Valley in Peach County, roughly 25 miles southwest of Macon and about four miles off Interstate 75. A Norfolk Southern main line runs along its northern edge, and the state says rail can reach the ports of Savannah and Brunswick in under five hours.
Gov. Brian Kemp said the state bought and improved the property specifically to attract a major automaker, and he described the deal as historic investment for the region. Audi leaders said Georgia offered a strong business climate, a skilled workforce and room to grow.
Tariffs are a big part of the backdrop. Audi currently ships every vehicle it sells in the U.S. from Europe or Mexico, and import duties cost the Volkswagen Group about $4 billion in 2025, including roughly $1.4 billion tied to Audi. A domestic plant gives the brand a hedge against future trade fights, even though relief is years away.
The company said the plant should also open doors for suppliers, service firms and training partners across the region, and that North America would become a third major production base next to Europe and China.
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