Trump plays the "manufacturing card" again to build momentum for the midterm elections: Audi to build a $4 billion plant in the US, planning annual output of 200,000 SUVs.

Title context: Trump plays the "manufacturing card" again to build momentum for the midterm elections: Audi to build a $4 billion plant in the US, planning annual output of 200,000 SUVs. Text: German automaker Audi's CEO Gernot Dllner on Sunday defended the company's planned $4 billion investment in a new US plant, an investment announced by US President Donald Trump as he builds momentum for November's midterm elections. On Saturday, Dllner appeared alongside Trump at a rally in Perry, near Macon in central Georgia. Trump said Audi, part of the Volkswagen Group, plans to build a new assembly plant in Georgia with an annual output of 200,000 SUVs. Dllner told reporters on Sunday: "This decision followed months of careful planning and intense negotiations. If the US president invites you, you should accept the invitation. That is what respect for the presidency, and for the country in which we are investing, requires." Whether the investment can proceed will ultimately still require a decision by Volkswagen's supervisory board. Georgia's US Senate and gubernatorial races are highly competitive, and Trump is eager to prove that his auto tariffs are helping the US economy and boosting US manufacturing. In Germany, these tariffs have intensified the pressure on European industry and deepened tensions between Volkswagen management and workers, who are facing layoffs and possible plant closures. Audi said Trump's tariffs on cars, steel, aluminum and components cost Audi about 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) last year, because all vehicles Audi sells in the US market are imported from Europe or Mexico. Critics of the tariffs say they have also caused damage on US soildriving up car prices and delaying investment by some automakers. A spokesperson for the German union IG Metall said Dllner's decision to court Trump during the election campaign was "baffling." The spokesperson said: "Trump has never hidden his intentions: he wants to weaken our domestic economy, especially the auto industry." IG Metall chairwoman and deputy chair of Volkswagen's supervisory board Christiane Benner said that strengthening the company's position in the US market through a new plant is "right and necessary." "However, the solid prospects for workers at all plants, especially those in Germany, must be clearly defined and spelled out." Dllner declined to disclose full details of the investment agreement with the US side, including whether it involves tariff relief for the company. Can German workers benefit? Olaf Lies, premier of the German state of Lower Saxony and Volkswagen's second-largest shareholder, said expanding production in the US is an opportunity as long as German workers can benefit too. He said: "Growth in the US must safeguard jobs and value creation here (in Germany), not replace them." Audi said the investment will create about 4,500 jobs. Audi said construction is planned to begin next year, with production starting in the early 2030s. A US official told the media that the plant is expected to assemble three SUV models: the Audi Q7, Q8 and Q9. The official said Audi also plans to produce 25,000 vehicles a year in neighboring South Carolina. Some vehicles currently produced in Europe will be used for export, the official added. The official said these vehicles will be assembled at a $2 billion plant under construction by Volkswagen's off-road brand Scout Motors in Blythewood, near the state capital Columbia. Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume said: "We see the region as a key market for profitable growth. If Audi builds a plant in the US, that will create further conditions for this."