“Opportunistic, submissive”: Car analyst Pieper settles accounts with Audi boss Döllner

The joint appearance of Audi boss Döllner and US President Trump triggers a wave of indignation. Industry experts sharply criticize the political staging. From an economic perspective, the construction of the first plant in Georgia is long overdue.

The appearance of Audi boss Gernot Döllner at a campaign event for US President Donald Trump was met with incomprehension and sharp criticism not only by employee representatives and politicians. In an interview with ntv, car analyst Jürgen Pieper described the appearance in the US state of Georgia as opportunistic and submissive. “Such behavior is unworthy of a company that counts itself as a premium manufacturer.”

In the middle of the election campaign, the Ingolstadt-based company announced that it would produce 200,000 SUVs annually in Georgia. Investments worth the equivalent of around 3.6 billion euros are planned, and 4,500 jobs are to be created. Audi says construction will begin in 2027, with production starting in the early 2030s.

According to Pieper, an ordinary mass manufacturer might have accepted that he would seek salvation in close proximity to the president. "I would have expected a different approach from a brand like Audi. Especially since the company doesn't even operate its own factory in the USA yet." There was no need for a joint election campaign appearance and, if so, it could have been much more subtle.

For Pieper, the incident is an example of a problem in the industry: According to his assessment, the management levels of German car manufacturers are increasingly losing tact during the crisis. "Under pressure, you tend to throw some values ​​overboard or at least put them into perspective. Those who are driven act completely differently than when they can act freely from a position of success."

Pieper nevertheless describes the plans for an Audi plant in the USA as overdue. Audi is weakly positioned in the US market primarily because the manufacturer has barely had its own presence there. In addition to the current tariffs, which are strongly linked to Trump, classic currency risks have always played a role in building your own factory in the USA. “Ultimately it’s about getting better or optimal market access, and having your own local factory is absolutely the right step for this,” says Pieper. It is still unclear whether Audi will receive customs relief in return for a factory.

Car expert Frank Schwope also sees the construction of a car factory in the USA as a necessary step in order to avoid tariffs that would arise on imports from Europe or Mexico. However, he also points out that customs regulations could change again in the next government. At the same time, he warns: "A new plant could lead to production relocations there and endanger jobs in Germany," says lecturer for automotive management at the Berlin University of Applied Sciences.

Trump has been putting targeted pressure on foreign companies since the beginning of his second term in office in January 2025: under the threat of high import tariffs, he is calling on them to relocate their production to the USA. In return, he offers affected companies the prospect of tax and customs relief in order to stimulate the local economy and create industrial jobs.