Audi will spend $4 billion to build its first US plant in Macon, Georgia, creating 4,500 jobs, as parent company Volkswagen battles Trump tariffs.

Audi will spend $4 billion to build its first US plant in Macon, Georgia, creating 4,500 jobs, as parent company Volkswagen battles Trump tariffs.

Audi CEO Grano Dellner announced the plant on stage at a Trump campaign rally, an unusual move for a major European brand just days before the US midterm elections.

"We plan to bring our largest and most premium SUVs, and manufacture them here in Macon, Georgia," Dellner said, adding:

"This is a long-term investment because we believe in the American market."

The plant aims to produce 200,000 Q7, Q8 and Q9 SUVs per year, moving some production from Bratislava, Slovakia.

Volkswagen said Trump's 15 percent tariffs on EU imports cost it up to 5 billion euros a year, and the investment could add to tensions in Germany, where the automaker has begun cutting up to 100,000 jobs and closing factories.