Audi suspended its political code so its chief could help Trump announce a subsidised US factory

Audi chief Gernot Döllner appeared with Donald Trump at a campaign event in Georgia after the US administration linked support for a proposed factory to a public announcement. CORRECTIV reports that Washington offered to cover roughly half of the €4bn investment and suggested tariff relief. Before travelling, Döllner obtained an exception from Audi's code of conduct, which normally prohibits executives from participating in election campaigns. On stage he thanked Trump and called the project good for Audi and America.

The decision was not sprung on Volkswagen's top overseers. Supervisory-board chair Hans Dieter Pötsch convened an informal meeting with the works council, IG Metall, Lower Saxony's prime minister and Porsche-Piëch family representatives. Works-council chief Daniela Cavallo objected strongly, and Olaf Lies expressed milder criticism, but nobody stopped the trip. Cavallo later said Döllner had become an active part of a speech filled with racism, sexism, xenophobia and contempt for democracy. Döllner told staff he acted exclusively in the company's interest.

The commercial pressure is real. Audi loses about €1bn a year in the US, while VW says American tariffs cost the group €5bn annually. BMW and Mercedes already manufacture locally; Audi's Chinese business has weakened, leaving it at risk of becoming largely European. The factory has not been approved by VW's supervisory board, tariff relief is not guaranteed and a possible December vote will come only after the US midterms.

CORRECTIV's deeper finding is that the episode changes an internal power contest. Döllner and legal chief Manfred Döss favour plant closures and a harder restructuring supported by the Porsche-Piëch family; labour representatives resist that agenda. Success in the US could position Döllner as a successor to Oliver Blume. The Trump appearance may weaken him at home before the investment is secured. It also sets a governance precedent: a multinational's political-neutrality rule became negotiable precisely when a government made public allegiance part of an industrial subsidy.