Audi Announced a $4 Billion Georgia ‘Mega Site’ for SUVs at a Trump Rally: TDS

October 26, 2026 · by APW Pipeline

Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, our daily sweep of top headlines from the auto industry and car culture, curated by The Drive’s editorial team. Each story gets a short summary and a link to the original source if you want to dive deeper.

Hope you had a great weekend! Here’s your bulletin for Monday, October 26, 2026:

Amid all of the trouble the Volkswagen Group is currently grappling with, Audi has announced a “mega US production site” in Georgia, which would mark its first U.S. factory. The automaker plans to invest $4 billion in the facility—including about 4,500 jobs—and to break ground next year. Completion won’t come until “the early 2030s,” and, at full capacity, Audi expects to be producing 200,000 vehicles a year at the site. Gernot Döllner, the automaker’s CEO, publicly announced the news at a Trump rally of all places, and is already firing back at critics from Volkswagen’s German union about that call, telling Reuters, “This decision was preceded by many months of careful planning and intense negotiations. If the American president invites you, you accept the invitation. That is what respect for the office and for the country in which we invest demands.” [Audi, Motor1]

Toyota believes it will make about $1.7 billion annually from selling its engines and hybrid systems to partner automakers, like Mazda, Subaru, and Suzuki. It’s worth noting that Toyota retains ownership stakes in all three of those companies, but evidently, it believes the math will work out in its favor. [Automotive News]

Alpine isn’t rushing the next-gen, battery-electric A110 to market, with CEO Philippe Krief saying in an interview that, “It has to be perfect” at launch. As the spun-out Renault performance brand looks to expand to North America, which it is still apparently very much thinking about despite, you know, everything, it may work combustion engines into its next-gen vehicles, like the gorgeous A310 concept it teased a few weeks ago. [Automotive News]

Santa Monica is working out a deal with Amazon-owned robotaxi service Zoox to allow the company to store up to 150 vehicles at city-owned lots. The arrangement “would indemnify the city for incidents involving Zoox vehicles,” and Santa Monica expects to make half a million dollars annually from it. [Santa Monica Daily Press]

Mitsubishi’s new (deep breath, now) ASX VR-e GSR electric SUV can accelerate from 0-60 mph in under four seconds—and no, it isn’t coming here. This model is actually built by Foxconn, and Mitsubishi views it as keeping the soul of the Lancer Evo alive “in some shape or form.” It’s certainly a different shape, though I’ll admit, it doesn’t look half bad for an electric crossover. [Drive]

In other Audi news, the company will draw a line in the sand between its two brands in China. The one with four rings—the one you’d know—will focus on combustion cars but also some electric ones, and will be built in partnership with FAW Group. The other, which is literally just the name “AUDI” without any rings at all, will exclusively build EVs designed in and for China, and that one will involve SAIC Motor. Simple, right? [Bloomberg]

Weekend race winners:

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Talladega: Sammy Smith for Spire Motorsports
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Talladega: Sammy Smith for JR Motorsports
NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega: Kyle Larson for Hendrick Motorsports
Formula 1 United States Grand Prix: Kimi Antonelli for Mercedes

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