Trade war: VW, Hyundai, Honda shop production hubs in US
Sopuruchi Onwuka, with agency reports
World’s biggest automaker, Volkswagen, is taking early production position in the United States as the global manufacturing sector begins to adjust to the demands by the administration of Donald Trump for stronger local content impact of the highly empowered United States’ market.
While the economic imports of the Trump tariff policy begin to settle in, changes in the future of the automobile industry might limit the target benefits as new auto models focus on electric vehicles which might not deepen local demand for the US massive petroleum output.
The Oracle Today reports that Volkswagen Group is the second largest automaker in the world in 2024. The German company is also the producer of the Audi brand which competes in the growing list luxury models.
Specifically, Audi which assembles most of its lineup in Germany, Hungary, Mexico, Slovakia, Spain, and China is planning to make some of its crossover and SUV models in the US.
‘We want to localize more strongly in the USA,’ a company spokesperson is quoted in a report sourced from DailyMail.com.
‘To this end, we are currently examining various scenarios. We are confident that we will make a decision on this in consultation with the Volkswagen Group before the end of this year as to what this will look like in concrete terms.’
On a recent earnings call, Audi CFO Jürgen Rittersberger added that Audi plans to launch 10 new models in the US, with production locations to be announced in 2026.
While no final decision has been made, sources speaking to German trade publication Automobilwoche say Audi is scouting three potential locations in the US.
The frontrunner plant reportedly in consideration is in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where its parent company Volkswagen already builds the ID.4 electric crossover.
Since the Audi Q4 E-tron shares a similar platform with the ID.4, the plant could be adapted relatively quickly to handle production without starting from scratch.
Volkswagen also builds the Atlas and Atlas Sport at the Chattanooga facility, and several thousand vehicles from the plant are exported each year — boosting US GDP in the process.
Shifting production lines to make room for Audi models could slow some of those exports, but it would deepen the domestic supply chain.
Another potential site is in South Carolina, where VW is breaking ground on a new factory to build electric-based pickups and SUVs under the Scout Motors name.
The third option remains undisclosed. An Audi spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
President Trump has claimed that his 25 percent tariffs will revive American manufacturing after decades of decline.
Some automakers are now localizing production of EV platforms they’ve already poured billions into — creating a reshuffling of global supply chains that aligns with White House goals, even if not with its messaging.
Audi is a great example: the company has been launching multiple electric concept vehicles and has bet heavily on customers going EV.
Hyundai, too, has doubled down on building its Ioniq electric series in Georgia during the second Trump administration.
Honda said plans to keep Civic Hybrid production in Indiana in response to the tariffs.
Jeremy Snyder, chief commercial officer of the newly-unveiled Slate electric truck company, told DailyMail.com that US EV manufacturing is a no-brainer.
‘Building EVs for a new company is the only obvious solution,’ Jeremy Snyder, the CCO of Slate told Daily Mail.com.
‘Current EV problems are a education and infrastructure issues that are being corrected over time.
‘For drivers, it is simply a better experience. You pull into your parking spot, you plug in, you wake up to a full “tank” every single day.’
