“Politically unacceptable”: the presence of the Audi boss at a Donald Trump meeting causes an outcry in Germany

Criticism increased on Monday in Germany against the boss of Audi after his appearance alongside Donald Trump during an election rally marked by the announcement of a massive investment by the manufacturer in the United States. “The way in which Audi boss Gernot Döllner “presented himself and Audi in the United States is extremely embarrassing, politically unacceptable,” declared the president of the powerful IG Metall union, Christiane Benner.

Gernot Döllner appeared on Saturday alongside the American president during a Republican campaign meeting in Georgia, where Donald Trump announced an investment of 4.2 billion dollars from the German manufacturer to build its first American factory there. Audi immediately confirmed this project, which should enable the production of 200,000 vehicles per year and the creation of around 4,500 jobs.

The president of the Volkswagen group works council, Daniela Cavallo, denounced on the works council website a “clear violation” of internal directives. They impose political neutrality and prohibit public events with candidates in the three months preceding an election. Asked by AFP, Audi did not answer the question of why its boss had nevertheless chosen to participate in this event a few days before the American mid-term elections.

“A propaganda show”

According to Daniela Cavallo, “the group's management board allowed itself to be transformed into a puppet in a propaganda show in the service of a highly questionable political figure, who goes against practically all the values of our company”. “The Audi boss has crossed a red line,” commented the business daily Handelsblatt. Transforming an investment decision into a campaign argument for Trump, a politician who "massively harms German industry, including the automobile industry", is "troubling and pitiful", judged Dennis Radtke, head of the social wing of the CDU, the party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

As early as Sunday, SPD MP Isabel Cademartori denounced on X “direct electoral aid” provided to Donald Trump, believing that Volkswagen had “learned nothing from history”. The final decision regarding a new factory in the United States will remain subject to the approval of the supervisory board of Volkswagen, the parent company, insist Daniela Cavallo and Christiane Benner. They are joined by Olaf Lies, Social Democratic (SPD) president of Lower Saxony, a large shareholder in the group who also has a say.

Local production of Audi in the United States can make sense “economically”, particularly given the high customs duties imposed by Donald Trump, recognized Daniela Cavallo. But “without a global vision of the planning cycle and its consequences for all sites, we will not give our green light,” she warned. This investment by Audi comes at a time when the Volkswagen group is undertaking a vast program of savings and job cuts in Germany.

The Audi factory in Neckarsulm (south), which employs around 15,000 people, is particularly threatened. And more jobs in Germany could disappear if certain models of the brand were to be produced in the future American factory. Audi's German rivals, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, already produce in the United States, but their locations there were decided well before the wave of investments stimulated by Donald Trump's customs duties.