VW Group said to be formulating Scout, Audi EV assembly plans in U.S.

Audi may build an electric car factory in the U.S. to take advantage of the subsidies offered through the Inflation Reduction Act, CEO Markus Duesmann told Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung in an interview published Friday. He added that a decision had not yet been made.

Separately, Automotive News sibling publication Automobilwoche, citing company sources, on Friday reported that Scout, which Volkswagen Group acquired in 2021 with plans to relaunch it as an electric light-truck brand, will begin production in 2026 from a VW Group-built plant in the U.S. VW had considered contract manufacturers Foxconn and Magna but decided to build the plant on its own. “The decision to build the plant ourselves is available as a draft resolution and has thus been taken,” company sources told Automobilwoche.

It was immediately unclear whether the Audi and Scout vehicles would be assembled in the same plant.

“We do not have a factory in the U.S. yet. With the American government’s Inflation Reduction Act, building a U.S. plant for electric cars has of course become highly attractive,” Duesmann told the newspaper in an interview.

Asked whether Audi would build a plant itself or do so together with other VW brands, he said: “Both are possible. But the probability that we do it within the group is high.”

Duesmann’s comments reinforce comments made in October to Automotive News by Oliver Hoffmann, head of technical development for Audi, who said the company was considering a U.S. assembly plant in the U.S.

Automakers have in recent years moved to reduce export and imports across major markets like the U.S., China and Europe and instead localize production and supply chains to reduce transport and logistics costs.

But a growing number of companies are now announcing heightened investment in the U.S. over Europe in light of generous subsidies and tax incentives offered by the act, worrying European officials.