Japanese automakers furloughed workers in the Southern Automotive Corridor by the tens of thousands
Nissan and Honda furloughed workers without pay at their plants in the South because of the coronavirus. In April, Nissan said it would furlough about 10,000 workers at its plants in Mississippi and Tennessee, calling the move a temporary shutdown. Honda furloughed about 14,400 workers at its plants in the U.S. The furloughed workers will keep their benefits such as health care.

Fed says manufacturing decline largest since 1946
Data released by the Federal Reserve in April showed that manufacturing in the U.S. has dropped to levels not seen since 1946, one year after the end of World War II. The low levels are due to so many manufacturers closing plants, including almost all automotive plants in April.

 

ALABAMA

Coronavirus to help Mazda Toyota fill jobs in Northern Alabama
Mazda Toyota Manufacturing, which is finishing up its $1.6 billion, 4,000-employee plant in Huntsville, Ala., will benefit from jobs lost due to the coronavirus. Mazda Toyota had a huge issue prior to the virus. . .it had a 4,000-employee plant that, as of the end of 2019, was being built in a market that had no labor. Then came the virus and soaring unemployment. While it will be much easier now to fill those 4,000 positions, the plant has delayed opening as a result of the pandemic.

Mercedes plans to make all factories carbon-neutral by 2022
Mercedes-Benz is opening its battery plant near its assembly facility in Tuscaloosa, Ala. There, it will build electric SUV vehicles. The goal was to make electric vehicles by 2022 in Europe, but the Alabama plant has been added to the mix.

Mercedes SUVs are a hot commodity in China
Alabama’s exports to China, even in the midst of trade tensions, grew by 26 percent in the first quarter of this year. One major player is the Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Automobile exports to China were up 170 percent in the first quarter. . . the vast majority of that increase came from Alabama-made Mercedes SUV exports to China.

Automotive supplier expanding in Alabama
Hayashi Telempu North America (HTNA), a Michigan-based supplier of automotive interior components, is expanding its plant in Walker County, Ala. The $7 million project will create 19 jobs.

 

GEORGIA

Commerce, Ga., lights up with mega deal
SK Innovation, a South Korean business that builds lithium-ion batteries for hybrid electric vehicles, announced in May it is building an additional plant at the site where it is already constructing a manufacturing facility that promised to hire 2,000. This second facility will increase SK’s investment from $1.67 billion to $2.5 billion. SK has contracts to supply batteries to Kia Motors and Volkswagen, and cited a projected higher demand for electric vehicles as the reason for
expansion.

Polymer developer expands in Newton County
Mytex Polymers (owned by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation) is investing more than $7 million to expand its existing facility in Newton County. Headquartered in Indiana, Mytex manufactures polymers used in products including automotive parts and household
appliances.

Flexsteel re-opens Georgia factory
Full-line manufacturer and importer Flexsteel Industries announced that its Dublin, Ga., plant reopened in May. In addition, the company is finalizing plans to reopen its Juarez, Mexico, plant in the next few weeks. Both facilities were idled in March in response to health and safety concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

MISSOURI

Missouri market puts together $1 billion package for Tesla Cybertruck factory
Joplin, Mo., has put together a package of incentives and savings to lure Elon Musk’s plant to build Cybertruck electric vehicles. The package includes a discount on a 1,042-acre site, as well as a combination of state and local tax credits.

 

SOUTH CAROLINA

South Carolina automakers shut plants down
Volvo and BMW temporarily closed their plants in South Carolina in March. Volvo, which employs about 1,500 workers in Berkeley County and is in the midst of a major expansion to add an SUV line, saw its sales drop 31.2 percent in March worldwide. BMW, which houses about 11,000 workers at its plant in Spartanburg County, saw sales drop by 15.3 percent in the first quarter in the U.S.

 

TENNESSEE

Tennessee-based Nissan to slash production capacity
Japanese automaker Nissan, which operates its North American headquarters near Nashville, reported a $6.2 billion loss in its latest fiscal year. As a result, the company will close plants in Spain and Indonesia, reducing its models and cutting capacity in the U.S. and elsewhere. Nissan has a worldwide capacity to produce 7 million vehicles, but sold only a little more than 5 million last year.

GM’s Tennessee plant to be run by the sun in less than two years
General Motors’ Spring Hill, Tenn., plant will be run completely by solar energy in 2022. The solar energy will be provided by TVA and one of its solar farms in Lowndes County, Miss., which is currently being built.

 

TEXAS

School district in Austin dangles $68 million in incentives for Tesla
The Del Valle school district in Austin is considering an incentive package to help lure Tesla to Austin. The $68 million comes in the form of a reduction of property taxes over a 10-year period. Tesla is considering Austin to build a 4 million- to 5 million-square-foot facility at a site in Southeast Austin. The electric car plant could house 5,000 or more workers.

JM Steel partners with Steel Dynamics in Sinton, Texas
South Carolina-based JM Steel will be expanding its footprint as a result of Steel Dynamics, an Indiana-based steel producer, inviting it to be part of their newest $1.9 billion flat roll steel mill located in Sinton, Texas.