Southern Auto Corridor - Winter 2016

For real-time news on business, politics and economic development in the South, go to www.RandleReport.com. For more information on the automotive industry in the South, go to www.SouthernAutoCorridor.com. And for more information on rural development in the South, visit www.SmallTownSouth.com.


ALABAMA

The combined production of the Hyundai, Honda and Mercedes-Benz plants in Alabama topped 1 million vehicles in calendar year 2015. With 1,033,095 vehicles assembled, it was the first time the  1 million mark was reached. Pictured above is the Honda plant site in  Lincoln, Ala. Alabama automakers top 1 million vehicle mark for the first time

The combined production of the Hyundai, Honda and Mercedes-Benz plants in Alabama topped 1 million vehicles in calendar year 2015. With 1,033,095 vehicles assembled, it was the first time the 1 million mark was reached.

 

Toyota sets record at its Alabama engine facility

Toyota built a record 631,000 engines at its Huntsville facility in 2015. The plant is the only Toyota facility that builds four-cylinder, V6 and V8 engines under one roof. The Japanese automaker builds engines in Huntsville for eight of its 12 vehicles.

 

Hyundai to assemble SUV at Alabama plant

Hyundai announced it is adding production of the Santa Fe SUV at its plant in Montgomery, Ala. The Santa Fe is currently made exclusively at Kia’s plant in West Point, Ga., and the model will also continue to be assembled there. Hyundai will invest $52 million at its Montgomery plant to add the new SUV line.

 

Automotive supplier breaks ground on Walker County, Ala., plant

Yorozu Corp., a tier one automotive supplier headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, recently broke ground on its Jasper, Ala., facility. The company plans to invest $100 million in the new metal stamping facility. . .a move that will create as many as 300 jobs in the area.

 

Recycler opening plant in rural Alabama

Custom Synthetic Fibers, a recycler of clear plastics in the manufacture of products used in the automotive and furniture industries, is spending $6 million on a facility in Rogersville, Ala. The project will create 50 jobs initially.

 

ARKANSAS

Nippon Steel opens first U.S. plant

Nippon Steel and Sumikin Materials USA, which manufacture a metal substrate for the automotive industry, are opening a new manufacturing facility in Fayetteville, Ark. The $5.7 million investment will initially create 65 new jobs in Lincoln County, with a goal of 330 hires.

 

FLORIDA

JL Audio plans manufacturing expansion in Broward County, Fla.

JL Audio, a manufacturer of car, marine and home audio products begun in Miramar in 1975, will create 30 new jobs and invest $9.4 million in its facility there. “JL Audio began as a small business when two friends decided to build loudspeakers during their summer break from college,” Governor Rick Scott said in a statement. “Today, JL Audio has provided a job for 294 Floridians and I am excited to announce that this growing business is creating 30 new jobs.”

 

Automotive marketer picks Miami for headquarters

Showroom Logic, a provider of digital marketing to dealers throughout the U.S. and Canada, has chosen Miami for its new headquarters. The company will add 74 jobs.

 

GEORGIA

Textron hiring 400 in Augusta, Ga.

Textron Specialized Vehicles, the maker of E-Z-GO, Cushman, Bad Boy and TUG brand vehicles, is adding 400 workers and expanding its facilities in Augusta. The company, which has operated in Augusta since 1954, is investing $40 million in the expansion.

 

Auto parts supplier investing in new plant in Georgia

The Germany-based company Linde + Wiemann, a manufacturer of instrument panels and other parts for automobiles, is investing $35 million to build a new 60,000-square-foot plant in Hart County in Northeast Georgia. The plant will supply both BMW’s plant in South Carolina and the Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama. The deal will create 200 jobs.

 

KENTUCKY

Kentucky’s auto industry grew in 2015

The Kentucky Automotive Industry Association reported in the winter that vehicle production in the Commonwealth grew by 2.4 percent in 2015 to more than 1.3 million cars and trucks. Auto industry employment grew to nearly 90,000 in Kentucky in 2015, up from 85,552 in 2014. For more information about the South’s automotive industry go to SouthernAutoCorridor.com.

 

Ford is investing $1.3 billion and adding 2,000 workers at its Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville. The investment will include a new body shop and equipment upgrades to assemble the new 2017 aluminum-bodied F-Series Super Duty Truck. Ford investing $1.3 billion, adding 2,000 jobs at Kentucky Truck Plant

Ford is investing $1.3 billion and adding 2,000 workers at its Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville. The investment will include a new body shop and equipment upgrades to assemble the new 2017 aluminum-bodied F-Series Super Duty Truck.

 

Auto parts manufacturer spending $193 million in rural Kentucky

Germany-based Fritz Winter North America, a producer of brake rotors, is investing $193 million in a new 240,000-square-foot plant in Franklin, Ky. The plant will house 343 workers.

 

Auto supplier sets up shop in rural Kentucky

TMM USA, a subsidiary of Japan-based Toyo Tire & Rubber, is locating an auto parts plant in Simpson County, Ky. The $5.6 million project will create 42 jobs.

 

GM’s Kentucky Corvette plant is growing again

GM announced in the winter it will invest $44 million and add 36 workers to increase capacity of its engine plant in Bowling Green, Ky. The engine plant is located at the automaker’s Corvette assembly facility. The expansion is in addition to the $483 million that GM invested in the plant in 2015.

 

MISSISSIPPI

Big deal in Mississippi

German manufacturer Continental Tire announced in February it will build a $1.45 billion, multi-million-square-foot plant in Hinds County, Miss., to produce heavy truck and passenger vehicle tires. The big deal will create 2,500 new jobs. The project represents the largest investment in Hinds County history. The Conti deal is the second large tire plant captured by Mississippi in the last five years. Yokohama is now operating its new plant in West Point, Miss.

 

Hago Automotive to locate plant in rural Mississippi

Germany-based Hago Automotive announced in the winter quarter it will locate a laser-welding and stamping operation in Tishomingo County, Miss. The plant will supply BMW’s plant in South Carolina. The parts supplier will invest $10 million and create 80 jobs. The company looked at sites in five other states in the Southern Auto Corridor before choosing Mississippi.

 

NORTH CAROLINA

Auto parts manufacturer picks North Carolina

GF Linamar, a Canadian manufacturer of lightweight components for cars and other vehicles, will build a $217 million plant in Mills River, N.C. The plant is a joint venture between Swiss parts maker Georg Fisher AG and Canada-based Linamar. The deal will create 350 jobs.

 

Bridgestone capitalizing North Carolina plant

Bridgestone is investing $164 million in its Wilson, N.C., plant. The company is adding space at the 42-year-old facility and new equipment to increase capacity by 3,000 more tires a day.

 

SOUTH CAROLINA

The BMW plant near Greer, S.C., assembled 400,904 X models in calendar year 2015, setting a new record. Once soon-to-be-completed expansion plans, which were announced in 2014, are completed, the German automaker expects to produce 450,000 units this year. BMW sets export record of $9.8 billion

BMW’s assembly plant in Greer, S.C., set a record with $9.8 billion worth of vehicles exported through the Port of Charleston in calendar year 2015. The German automaker assembled 400,904 vehicles in 2015 (also a record) and of that total, more than 280,000 were exported to foreign nations. In 2014, BMW’s vehicle exports were valued at $9.2 billion.

 

Volvo parts suppliers visit South Carolina

In February, nearly two dozen Swedish automotive parts suppliers — part of a trade association called FKG — visited South Carolina to meet with executives at Volvo and other manufacturers. Volvo has broken ground on its new $500 million, 2,000-employee plant in Berkeley County near Charleston. It was the first visit to the U.S. for most of the suppliers who expect to supply the new Volvo assembly plant.

 

BMW built 400,000 vehicles in South Carolina in 2015

The BMW plant near Greer, S.C., assembled 400,904 X models in calendar year 2015, setting a new record. Once soon-to-be-completed expansion plans, which were announced in 2014, are completed, the German automaker expects to produce 450,000 units this year. The volume makes the South Carolina plant BMW’s largest factory in the company’s global network.

 

Daimler Trucks North America expanding South Carolina operations

Daimler Trucks North America is investing $22.7 million in Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp. to expand facilities and improve operations in Gaffney, S.C.

 

Palmetto State becoming the Tire State?

South Carolina already produces more tires than any other state, and that doesn’t count the Trelleborg Wheel Systems plant that was dedicated in Spartanburg in January. Trelleborg, a Swedish company whose tire business is based in Italy, is the fifth foreign-owned tire company to bring manufacturing to South Carolina. It all began in 1975, when Michelin launched its plant in southern Greenville County, and has grown to include Bridgestone, Continental, Giti, and now Trelleborg.

Michigan automotive supplier to build new plant

Tower International is investing $44 million in a new plant in Fountain Inn, S.C. The parts supplier is moving into a spec building located in Southchase Industrial Park. The project will generate 130 jobs.

 

Auto parts supplier adding jobs in South Carolina

Akebono Brake is expanding its foundry and adding new equipment at its plant in West Columbia, S.C. The $40 million deal will create 100 new jobs.

 

Parts supplier expanding in South Carolina

The Germany-based Rochling Automotive is investing $5.8 million to expand its plant in Duncan, S.C. The deal will create 25 jobs.

 

TENNESSEE

GM investing $148 million in Tennessee plant

General Motors is investing $148 million in its Spring Hill, Tenn., assembly plant to add and repurpose machinery and assembly equipment to enable the facility to build V8 engines. The expansion will also add capacity to assemble small-block 6.2L engines.

 

GM moving production of SUV to Spring Hill, Tenn.

General Motors announced in the winter it will move production of its GMC Acadia model from a plant in Lansing, Mich., to its plant in Spring Hill, Tenn. Production will begin this year for the 2017 Acadia model.

 

SKF relocating auto parts distribution facility to Crossville, Tenn.

SKF USA is relocating its North American vehicle service market distribution facility from Hebron, Ky., to Crossville, Tenn. The $14 million project will create 150 jobs.

 

Parts supplier expanding in Nashville area

Bradford Co. is investing $5 million in its auto parts plant in Gallatin, Tenn. The plant, which makes reusable containers, will house 25 more workers.

 

Advance Auto Parts investing in Tennessee distribution center

Roanoke, Va.-based Advance Auto Parts is investing $24.5 million in a distribution center in La Vergne, Tenn. The company, which is moving into an existing building, will create 200 jobs.

 

Tennessee automotive plant expanding, adding 50 jobs

JTEKT Automotive is expanding its manufacturing facility in Monroe County with an investment of $218.5 million and 50 new jobs. The new facility is scheduled to produce next-generation steering components for Toyota, BMW, Honda and Nissan.

 

Toledo Molding & Die to invest $20 million, create 250 jobs in Tennessee

Toledo Molding & Die will build a new manufacturing facility in Fayetteville, Tenn. The automotive supplier will invest $20 million and create 250 new jobs.

 

UAW wins first union vote at “transplants”

The United Auto Workers has worked for more than two decades to unionize one of the 11 existing foreign automotive plants (Volvo’s plant, once completed in South Carolina will make it a dozen) in the Southern Auto Corridor. Often called “transplants” because they are foreign-owned, workers at the facilities have thwarted union advances time and time again. Until now. In the winter quarter, the UAW unionized — albeit small — at least part of a foreign plant in the South. The National Labor Relations Board announced that the UAW won the right to represent 164 skilled trade workers who repair and maintain equipment at Volkswagen’s plant in Chattanooga. The vote was 108 to 44 for the union.

 

TEXAS

GM is on a roll with its full-size SUV models. The Michigan automaker commands about 75 percent of the full-size SUV market, and Arlington, Texas is the only place in North America where Tahoes, Yukons and Suburbans are built. The plant is undergoing a $1.4 billion expansion, the largest expansion in terms of investment of any domestic plant in the Southern Auto Corridor. How frenetic is GM’s $1.4 billion expansion of its Texas SUV plant?

GM is on a roll with its full-size SUV models. The Michigan automaker commands about 75 percent of the full-size SUV market, and Arlington, Texas is the only place in North America where the Tahoe, Yukon and Suburban models are built. The plant is undergoing a $1.4 billion expansion, the largest expansion in terms of investment of any domestic plant in the Southern Auto Corridor. Most expansions of that size require a slowing of capacity, but that is not what is occurring at the Arlington plant, considering demand for the large SUVs has never been higher. GM is adding hundreds of robots, new body and paint shops and over 1 million square feet of space, and they believe they can do it without impacting the production process. To accomplish this, the expansion work is being done around the clock, seven days a week, and three shifts of production line workers are working dawn to dawn.

 

Canadian company reshores to New Braunfels, Texas

CGT U.S., a manufacturer of fabrics and films for the automotive industry, will invest $80 million in a new plant in New Braunfels. The company is reshoring part of its capacity from China. The deal will create 275 jobs.

 

Mercedes-Benz USA chooses Grapevine, Texas for Distribution Center and Training Facility

Mercedes-Benz USA will locate its Dual-Purpose Parts Distribution Center and Training Facility in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in Grapevine, Texas. The training facility will be staffed with approximately 50 full-time employees with the ability to train 150 to 200 technicians per week.

 

GM Financial picks San Antonio for new center

GM Financial announced in the winter it will build a new financial servicing center in San Antonio. The new center will house up to 700 workers.

 

WEST VIRGINIA

Auto parts supplier relocating HQ from Michigan to West Virginia

Japan-based Diamond Electric, an automotive coil ignition manufacturer, is relocating its headquarters from Michigan to Eleanor, W.Va. The relocation consolidates the company’s former headquarters with its largest U.S. operation in Putnam County, where Diamond employs 335. 

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