Audi Workers Demand German Job Security Before Backing U.S. Plant

Audi must secure jobs and production in Germany before building a factory in the U.S. to avoid President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the carmaker’s top labor official said.

The Volkswagen Group-owned brand is reviewing several options for setting up its own manufacturing hub in the U.S., where VW already operates one plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., and is building another one for the Scout brand near Columbia, S.C.

Audi’s labor leaders are willing to back an expansion in the country only if management gives long-term guarantees for jobs and output at home, said Jörg Schlagbauer, the company’s works council chief.

“We are not refusing to discuss the matter, but for capacity reasons we do not see any need to build a plant in the U.S. at present,” Schlagbauer, who also is Audi’s deputy board chairman, told Bloomberg in emailed comments.