Audi is investing in America, Neckarsulm is worried

Audi wants to build a new factory in the USA, and the company boss's appearance at a Trump election campaign event caused severe criticism. At the same time, the future of German Audi plants is open -

Discussion about new US plant Audi invests in America, Neckarsulm is worried As of: October 26, 2026 • 6:56 p.m

Corinna Sinn sums up the discussion about Audi's announcement that it will build a new plant in the USA quite simply: "If they get a deal, we will lose a deal." She has been working at the Audi plant in Neckarsulm for 40 years, first as a welder and then as an ultrasonic inspector. When production of the Audi A8 ended, her previous job also ceased. Now she is “inserting”: she is inserting components into devices or machines.

Corinna Sinn's husband also experienced the changes in Neckarsulm first hand. He also worked on the A8 and had to move to another area. The two's worries do not diminish when they hear about new US plants and follow CEO Gernot Döllner's controversial election campaign appearance with Donald Trump. “Of course we’re worried about the future,” she says.

Markus Gürne, HR, about the reaction of car analysts to Audi tagesschau, Das Erste, October 26, 2026 • 5:00 p.m. What comes after 2033? Once, after the merger of Auto Union and NSU to form Audi in 1969, Neckarsulm was the proud headquarters of the company. Sixteen years until the company headquarters were moved to Ingolstadt.

Today Neckarsulm is in jeopardy: the question is whether cars will continue to be built there in the future. Production of the A5 and A6 is scheduled to end at the end of 2033. Audi has not yet promised any new models that could then roll off the assembly line in Neckarsulm.

In the worst case, the belts then come to a standstill. Redundancies for operational reasons are excluded until the end of 2033. But this guarantee only protects employees from layoffs, not car production beyond this point.

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There's a "flavor" to that, as they say in Baden-Württemberg: While the future of production in Neckarsulm is open beyond 2033, the new plant in the US state of Georgia is scheduled to start in the early 2030s. Even if completely different types of vehicles are to be built there: large SUVs like the Q7, the Q8 or the Q9. These have so far been produced in Bratislava, Slovakia, not in Neckarsulm.

However, if production processes and model assignments at other locations change as a result, this could also have an impact on German plants - especially for the "shaky candidates" like Neckarsulm.

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Along with the Schwarz retail group, Audi is by far Neckarsulm's largest employer. The announcement of the new plant gave him an “oppressive feeling,” says Neckarsulm's mayor Steffen Hertwig (SPD). He can understand the economic reasons for the move, as the US market offers great growth opportunities and a factory in the USA would certainly be helpful given the high tariffs.

But the question is also whether Europe and Neckarsulm in particular will be weakened as a production location. Clear statements about the future are finally needed here. “If only production potential were drawn from Europe to the USA, then that would of course be bad,” says Hertwig.

Baden-Württemberg Prime Minister Cem Özdemir is becoming clearer. In a written statement, he criticized the US plant's announcement: "Anyone who invests a lot of money in Georgia must also say how things can continue in Neckarsulm." The fact that the company boss then allowed himself to be involved in the US President's election campaign also left him with a "significant feeling of disruption". Neckarsulm's mayor also calls the appearance "inappropriate".

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The appearance also met with criticism from many employees and the works council. Because Audi has prescribed political neutrality in its own corporate guidelines - especially in the election campaign. “In order to respect this principle, there will no longer be any publicly effective appointments with parties/politicians standing for election and no sponsorship of corresponding events in the last three months before elections,” the guidelines say.

However, the Audi board is said to have approved an exception to these rules before Döllner's appearance. This is reported by the Reuters news agency, citing a person familiar with the matter. Audi has not yet commented on this.

"The appearance of our CEO Gernot Döllner at a US presidential campaign event in Georgia is rightly being discussed critically by our employees. Many are irritated and disappointed," says Alexander Reinhart, chairman of the works council in Neckarsulm. Regardless of a possible plant in the USA, securing the German locations is the top priority for the works council.

But with every new announcement, employees' hopes dwindle. Also with Corinna Sinn. “We’re still lucky enough to get a company pension because we’ve been here for so long,” she says. Things look different for young employees. If the Neckarsulm plant were to finally close at some point, many would be faced with an uncertain future.

This topic in the program: The First | daily news | Oct 26, 2026 | 5:00 p.m