Exclusive: VW Supervisory Board meets on the Audi plant in the USA – Do the shareholders have to vote in the end?

If the supervisory board rejects the plans, an extraordinary general meeting is being discussed, according to Handelsblatt information. At the same time, key points for a deal with Trump are emerging.

Audi is planning a plant in Georgia with investments of around four billion dollars. The funding will come primarily from subsidies from Washington and Georgia.

The VW supervisory board is advising on the investment, with the focus being a dispute over the controversial appearance of Audi boss Gernot Döllner at a Donald Trump campaign event.

IG Metall boss Christiane Benner is calling for an examination of the economic viability of the US project and sees dangers for German locations from the opening of the plant in Georgia.

A customs deal with the US government could bring customs relief for Audi: The tariff rate on imports from Mexico should fall from 25 to 12.5 percent, and on imports from Europe from 15 to 12.5 percent.

The summary was created and editorially checked using AI.

Dusseldorf. “Audi Highway”, “Audi Parkway” or “Audi Drive”: This is what the access road to the planned plant in Georgia could be called in the future. But while the settlement agreement already goes into detail, it is not yet clear whether Audi will even be allowed to build the production facility. The decision on this could ultimately depend on Volkswagen shareholders.

Audi is a wholly owned subsidiary of the second largest car manufacturer in the world. And if the VW supervisory board rejects the billion-dollar investment in the new plant, the board could call an extraordinary general meeting and let the shareholders vote on the project. The Handelsblatt learned this from three company insiders.

It is still unclear when the supervisory board will deal with the decision. According to Handelsblatt information, the Volkswagen inspectors are currently meeting for a meeting that exclusively deals with Audi's involvement in the USA. The focus, however, is on the heavily publicly criticized appearance of Audi boss Gernot Döllner with US President Donald Trump on an election campaign stage in Georgia, where other Audi and corporate managers were also present.

The main focus of the supervisory board meeting should be who was informed about the appointment in advance and whether internal rules were violated.

The decision about the construction project depends on much more than the question of who knew about the Trump appointment and when. Even within the board there is apparently disagreement about what is the right thing to do. Parts of management argue that the significant investment in Georgia is in the interests of the entire company.

US production would make Audi more independent of Trump's sometimes unpredictably imposed import tariffs. The prospect of customs relief could also ease the burden on Volkswagen beyond Audi, as the eliminated burden would benefit the entire group. The argument goes that anyone who rejects the project solely out of consideration for individual locations is putting their interests above those of the company.

This in turn goes against statements made by IG Metall boss Christiane Benner. The 58-year-old is deputy head of the supervisory board at VW and is therefore part of the executive committee of the central control body in Wolfsburg. In this role, Benner was informed about the US plans before Döllner's trip. Parts of the management are now accusing the trade unionist of publicly prioritizing trade union interests.

Benner told “Spiegel” that the executive committee of the supervisory board had been informed less than 48 hours in advance. According to her account, the committee knew nothing in advance about Döllner's appearance next to Donald Trump on a campaign stage. The union leader demands that the supervisory board examine the economic viability of the US project. At the same time, she demands binding perspectives for the German locations from CEO Oliver Blume and Audi boss Döllner.

To a large extent, both representations correspond to the information from the Handelsblatt. But they differ on one point. While management says that Döllner's appearance with Trump was clearly communicated, the employee side claims that the joint appearance was presented as an option.

IG Metall sees jobs in Germany at risk as a result of the deal. At Audi, as a result of the plant opening in Georgia, the Neckarsulm plant could come under severe pressure and may have to close. For VW, the subsequent occupancy of the Emden location also depends on Audi's decision.

Meanwhile, the customs deal with the Trump administration is about to be concluded, according to Audi supervisory board circles. For Audi, the tariff relief for Mexico is particularly crucial: the tariff rate on imports from there to the USA is to be halved from 25 to 12.5 percent. In San José Chiapa, Audi produces the Q5 combustion SUV, the brand's best-selling model in the USA.

The Mexican factory supplies the Q5 to all other markets apart from the USA, with the exception of China. Tariffs on Audi vehicles are also set to fall for imports from Europe to the USA, from the current 15 to 12.5 percent. It is said that other brands should not benefit from the customs deal.

A draft contract initially calls for investments of around four billion dollars for the plant in Georgia. Funding comes primarily from subsidies from Washington and the state of Georgia. However, the advantage that Audi expects internally has shrunk. According to Handelsblatt information, the brand is now calculating annual customs relief of 500 to 600 million euros. It had previously estimated around 900 million euros.

According to insiders, there was originally a tariff rate of ten percent for 200,000 Audi vehicles from Europe or Mexico per year. Together with the subsidies from Georgia, the tariff relief could have completely offset the investment according to the calculations at the time. At 12.5 percent, this calculation probably no longer works, say high-ranking decision-makers in the VW Group.

In Wolfsburg and Ingolstadt they are now turning their attention to Washington. Whether and when the tariffs actually fall ultimately depends on Trump. According to the discussions, the relief will be implemented by decree, a so-called executive order. According to information from Handelsblatt, Audi has not yet received a written commitment. Corporate circles agree that there have only been verbal declarations of intent from Howard Lutnick's US Department of Commerce.

The settlement agreement with Georgia, the most recent version of which is available to the Handelsblatt, has not yet been signed. The draft allows Audi to exit by mid-2027 under certain conditions.

If Trump signs the decree, the Audi supervisory board would be first in line. VW Chief Legal Officer Manfred Döss chairs the meeting. In corporate circles, approval there is considered probable to certain. The VW supervisory board would then have to decide on the project.

The situation there is not so clear, which is why an extraordinary general meeting is being considered as a last resort. According to the Stock Corporation Act, if the consent of the Supervisory Board is refused, the Executive Board can submit a transaction requiring approval to the Annual General Meeting. To do this he needs at least three quarters of the votes cast.

At Volkswagen there is a special rule: the VW law requires a two-thirds majority on the supervisory board for the establishment and relocation of production facilities. It is unclear whether and how this path would be open to a specific resolution for the Audi plant.

In the dispute over the austerity program in September, supervisory board chairman Hans Dieter Pötsch, together with Lower Saxony's Prime Minister Olaf Lies, mediated between the board of directors and the employee side. If the supervisory board gets stuck with Georgia, Pötsch's mediation skills would be in demand again.

If an extraordinary general meeting were to come into play for the second time within a few months, Pötsch would also come under pressure. As chairman of the supervisory board, he would then have to ask himself why his committee repeatedly reaches its limits when it comes to key decisions.

This returns a scenario that brought Volkswagen to the brink of an open power struggle between management and employees in September's austerity package. At that time, the employee side was preparing for a legal dispute. Only a compromise prevented the escalation at the last minute.