Bill Ford announces a new mega campus called Blue Oval City
Ford Motor and battery supplier SK Innovation have planned to invest over $11 billion at two sites in the South, one in Kentucky and the other in Tennessee. The projects will produce electric vehicles and batteries. The two sites are the Memphis Regional Megasite and the Glendale Megasite in Hardin County, Ky. The Tennessee project will include a 3,600-acre campus, a supplier park, recycling center and a new assembly plant to build F-Series trucks. The two projects are expected to create almost 11,000 full-time jobs and are part of President Joe Biden’s call for companies to onshore supply chains amid the global shortage of semiconductor chips and the logistics backlog that is being experienced in the supply chain from foreign countries. The state of Tennessee invested more than $174 million on improvements at the Memphis Regional Megasite. Tens of millions have also been spent on the Glendale Megasite in central Kentucky over the years as well. That site came in second in the Hyundai site search that ended up in Montgomery, Ala., nearly 20 years ago. The joint venture on both sites will be called BlueOvalSK.

Automotive manufacturing jobs lead job surge
Manufacturing job growth leaped in October as motor vehicles and parts manufacturers hired almost as many people as all other manufacturing sectors combined. In October, manufacturing added 60,000 jobs of the 531,000 jobs overall as the unemployment rate edged down to 4.6 percent. Automotive added 27,700 jobs as the electric vehicle market is just now really getting its legs under it. 

Nissan to upgrade Mississippi and Tennessee plants amid EV push
Japan’s Nissan Motor Company will spend about $700 million at two U.S. manufacturing plants to implement new technologies to make electric vehicles. The investment is part of a $1.2 billion global investment to make the automaker’s global factories more efficient, less polluting and ready to produce next-generation cars such as electric vehicles. The Nissan plants in Canton, Miss., and Smyrna, Tenn., are part of the ramp-up.

ALABAMA

Honda marks 20 years of production at its Alabama plant
In November, Honda marked 20 years of production at its assembly plant in Lincoln, Ala. The plant has expanded numerous times with several different models, mostly light trucks. The Japanese automaker also makes V-6 engines at the $2 billion facility that houses about 4,500 workers. 

Toyota again expanding its Alabama engine plant
Japanese automaker Toyota will be the exclusive North American producer of the twin-turbo V6 engine for the 2022 Tundra. The manufacturer said the twin-turbo V6 engine line represents a $288 million investment in Toyota Alabama operations and an added 450 jobs, bringing total employment to 1,800.

Hyundai expects electric vehicle production to start next year
Korean automaker Hyundai will begin EV production on the Genesis GV70 EV at its plant in Montgomery beginning in 2022. The assembly of electric vehicles in Alabama will be the first for Korean automakers. The company is also counting on proposed subsidies for electric vehicles produced on U.S. soil.

Mercedes adding hundreds of jobs in Alabama by year’s end
Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI) plans to hire several hundred permanent production team members before the end of 2021 to meet growing demand for its vehicles and prepare for new milestones, especially the production of two electric vehicles — the EQS and EQE sport utilities —in 2022. MBUSI is opening an EV battery pack assembly facility on a second Alabama campus in Bibb County.

GEORGIA

SKC to invest $473 million in semiconductor plant in Georgia
South Korea’s SKC, a maker of plastic films, is set to invest $473 million to locate a semiconductor parts venture at its existing plant in Georgia. SK Innovation has invested $2.6 billion to put an electric-vehicle battery plant in Jackson County and plans to ramp up a second plant on the complex as demand grows. 

Amazon-backed EV maker Rivian to build plant east of Atlanta
Rivian, a startup electric vehicle manufacturer, will build a new $5 billion battery and assembly plant at a site east of Atlanta. The massive project will create 7,500 jobs. 

KENTUCKY

Toyota announces $461 million investment in Kentucky plant
Toyota is investing $461 million into its plant in Georgetown, Ky., to add new technology, increase production flexibility and reduce its carbon footprint. The announcement does not include new jobs at the central Kentucky facility, but officials said 1,400 temporary jobs would be converted into permanent positions.

MISSISSIPPI

Dr. Schneider Automotive plans Mississippi operation
Germany-based Dr. Schneider Automotive Systems, a supplier of air ventilation systems and window frame trim, plans to establish operations in Baldwyn, Miss. The $22.5 million project is expected to create up to 400 jobs over six years.

NORTH CAROLINA

Toyota picks megasite in North Carolina for electric battery plant
Japanese automaker Toyota has picked the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite for a large electric battery plant to ramp up electric vehicle manufacturing in the U.S. The site is a 1,825-acre site rezoned for heavy industry located near the center of the state.

SOUTH CAROLINA

BMW Manufacturing expands with logistics center
BMW Manufacturing is expanding its operations in Spartanburg County with the construction of a new $100 million logistics center. The facility, which will be located on 120 acres, will enhance BMW’s logistics operations supplying parts to the company’s 7-million-square-foot factory in Greer, S.C.

TENNESSEE

Ford, a union company, settles in West Tennessee
In the fall quarter, Ford announced it will assemble electric vehicles and batteries at a massive site just east of Memphis. The nearly 6,000-job, nearly $6 billion deal with SK Innovation, along with a companion facility in Hardin County in Central Kentucky, will blaze a new trail when it comes to the automotive industry morphing into electric innovation. It remains to be seen if the facilities will become unionized. 

Audi could build electric vehicles at Volkswagen’s plant in Tennessee.
Audi’s parent company is VW and the chances of the German automaker building EVs in Chattanooga are growing stronger every day. Audi shares the same all-electric architecture as the ID.4 model that VW builds in Chattanooga. 

Big battery plant in middle Tennessee on schedule
The construction of the Ultium Cells battery plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., is on schedule as of the fall quarter, company officials announced. The 2.8 million-square-foot facility is a joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution. GM operates a large assembly plant in Spring Hill. One of the models that will use the batteries is a new one called the Cadillac Lyriq luxury crossover, Cadillac’s very first all-electric vehicle. The project will create 1,300 new jobs. 

NOVONIX investing $160 million in Chattanooga
Most of the materials used to make batteries for electric vehicles come from Asia, but NOVONIX is about to change that. The company will invest $160 million and hire 300 workers for its new manufacturing facility called “Riverside Recharged” in Chattanooga.

TEXAS

Tesla headquarters moving to Texas
Tesla will move its headquarters to Austin, Texas, following through on a threat Elon Musk made last year when tensions between the billionaire and California boiled over. Musk announced his decision in October. The shortage of affordable housing and long commute times are among factors limiting how much the company can expand in the San Francisco Bay area it’s called home for 18 years, he said.

WEST VIRGINIA

Toyota celebrates 25 years in West Virginia
In the fall quarter, Japanese automaker Toyota celebrated a major milestone — the company has operated in Buffalo, W.Va., for 25 years. Toyota makes four- and six-cylinder engines there, as well as transmissions and hybrid trans-axles.