The relocation of the production of Audi’s large SUVs to the US would seriously hit the German Volkswagen (VW) plant in Bratislava, where Audi’s Q7, Q8 and Q9 models are made now.

Reports of the relocation of Audi’s SUVs production to the US were widely shared by international media after US President Donald Trump’s comments in the US state of Georgia earlier this month, when Trump said Audi committed to invest €4.2bn into a new plant in Georgia, later confirmed by Audi’s CEO Gernot Döllner.

The Bratislava plant makes “the large expensive SUVs, which were successfully exported to the US,” economist Viliam Pálenik was quoted as saying by state broadcaster STVR, pointing out that Audi’s parent company VW is likely trying to avoid the 15% tariffs on EU imported goods implemented by Trump’s administration.

“It was clear that Volkswagen Bratislava is under threat,” Páleník said.

The Bratislava plant produced 93,000 Audi SUVs last year, STVR noted, while the country’s leading daily DenníkN pointed out that Audi SUVs account for about 30% of the production at the plant.

“After phasing out the [VW] Touareg production it would be another major loss, which could significantly hit the largest Slovak carmaker,” DenníkN wrote on October 29 in its overview of economy highlights.

Slovakia is the largest car producer per capita and the news of VW's decision earlier this year to cut another 50,000 jobs and reshape its European production network were already closely followed, while the country’s Prime Minister Robert Fico said in September he did not expect VW’s restructuring to affect the Bratislava plant.

VW operates another plant in Martin in central Slovakia, and the carmaker plans to transfer the Martin plant to the Man truck maker, as part of a sale inside the Volkswagen group, Slovak media reported in September.

It is not yet clear whether the Martin plant, which Volkswagen operated for the past 25 years, would be scaled down as part of the transfer.

Slovak opposition politicians called on the government to open talks with Volkswagen to keep the production in Slovakia, following the news of the Audi SUVs production transfer to the US.

“We are in contact with the Volkswagen representatives and we expect more detailed information about their intentions,” the Slovak Ministry of Economy spokesperson Mária Pavlusík was quoted as saying by STVR.