Employers
Audi plans to build its first U.S. factory at the Middle Georgia Megasite in Peach County, investing about $4 billion and creating approximately 4,500 jobs, Gov. Brian Kemp and Audi AG chief executive Gernot Döllner announced Saturday, Oct. 24. The plant is a long-range project: the state expects full production in 2031, and neither the company nor the state has said when hiring will begin.
The plant will build premium SUVs for North American customers. According to the Georgia Department of Economic Development, it is designed for an annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles at full production. Audi’s own release, dated Oct. 25 from Ingolstadt and Perry, describes capacity of “up to 200,000 vehicles” a year.
All 4,500 positions are planned jobs, not hires. Audi’s release refers to “approximately 4,500 planned jobs” and says the investment is also expected to create opportunities for suppliers, service providers and training partners in the region.
A multi-year timeline
The state and the company describe the schedule slightly differently. The Georgia release says Audi expects to begin grading in 2027 and construction in 2028, with full production expected in 2031. Audi’s release says construction of the plant is scheduled to begin in 2027, with production planned to start in the early 2030s.
Either way, the near-term work at the site is grading and construction, not factory employment. Job seekers should not expect plant production openings in the next year.
The deal also is not yet final. Capitol Beat reported on Oct. 27 that the contracts have not been signed and that Audi’s board of directors must still approve the project; Kemp and economic development commissioner Pat Wilson said they were confident it would close.
The site and its partners
The Middle Georgia Megasite was developed and marketed by the Development Authority of Peach County with the Mid-Georgia Gateway Joint Development Authority, which brings together Peach, Houston and Macon-Bibb counties. The state release cites Norfolk Southern Class I rail access, rail connections to the ports of Savannah and Brunswick in under five hours, and a 90-minute drive to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. It says industrial utilities are adjacent to the site and due-diligence reports are complete.
Audi said Georgia offered an investment-ready site, a skilled workforce, an established automotive supplier network and logistics infrastructure. The Peach County site is outside metro Atlanta, about 20 minutes from Perry, where President Donald Trump previewed the announcement at a rally that Saturday, according to Atlanta News First.
Training before the jobs
The workforce piece of the announcement is training infrastructure, not openings. According to the state release, Georgia Quick Start, the state’s employer-focused training program, will work with Audi to develop customized training curricula and design a designated training facility. Quick Start will also partner with local campuses of the Technical College System of Georgia to begin employee instruction on tailored curriculum while that facility is built.
The state release did not name individual colleges, a training-center location or a start date for instruction.
Pay and incentives
The state release says competitive wages for all roles “will be well-paying in the local market.” Capitol Beat reported that Wilson said the jobs would pay an average of more than $63,000 a year. Neither Audi nor the state has published wages by role.
The incentive package has not been disclosed. The state release lists no incentive amounts, and Capitol Beat reported that Kemp declined to detail the package but said the information would eventually become public.
What it means for workers
For Middle Georgia, the project points to years of construction activity before plant hiring, followed by demand for production, maintenance and technical workers as the factory approaches full output. No application process or careers page for the Georgia plant was announced. The figures in the announcements are company and state plans that can change before the plant opens.
Sources
- Georgia Department of Economic Development, “Audi AG Selects Georgia to Invest $4 Billion in First US Manufacturing Facility,” October 24, 2026. https://georgia.org/press-releases/audi-ag-selects-georgia-invest-4-billion-first-us-manufacturing-facility
- AUDI AG, “Audi to establish first U.S. production site in Georgia, investing $4 billion and creating 4,500 jobs,” October 25, 2026. https://www.audi.com/en/press-releases/audi-to-establish-first-us-production-site-in-georgia-investing-4-billion-and-creating-4500-jobs-18420
- Office of the Governor of Georgia, “Gov. Kemp: Audi AG Selects Georgia to Invest $4 Billion in First US Manufacturing Facility,” October 24, 2026. https://gov.georgia.gov/press-releases/2026-10-24/gov-kemp-audi-ag-selects-georgia-invest-4-billion-first-us-manufacturing
- Capitol Beat via Rough Draft Atlanta, “Audi selects Peach County for its first U.S. plant,” October 27, 2026. https://roughdraftatlanta.com/2026/10/27/audi-chooses-georgia-plant/
- Atlanta News First, “Audi to build $4B first US plant in middle Georgia,” October 24, 2026. https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2026/10/25/audi-build-4b-first-us-plant-middle-georgia/
Featured photo: The visitor center at Audi's plant and headquarters in Ingolstadt, Germany, photographed Feb. 13, 2022. Representative image; not the planned Georgia plant. Photo: -wuppertaler, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Cropped from the original.
