Premium car brand Audi is eyeing a production facility in Chattanooga, where its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, builds the electric ID.4 and other vehicles, according to the German publication Handelsblatt.
The company favors the construction of a “twin plant” near Volkswagen’s facility in Chattanooga, Handelsblatt reported. The report comes as the European Union negotiated a trade deal with President Donald Trump that establishes 15% tariffs on most European goods, according to The Associated Press.
Citing people with knowledge of the matter, Handelsblatt said the estimated cost of the U.S. facility would be in the low single-digit billions, and the construction time would be more than two years. Annual production capacity would be between 150,000 and 200,000, according to Handelsblatt.
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Audi has no production footprint in the United States and relies on exports from its EU sites and a factory in Mexico, according to Electrive. Goods imported to the U.S. from Mexico now have a 25% tariff.