ALABAMA

Graphite products plant to be built in Alabama
Westwater Resources, doing business as Alabama Graphite Products, will build a graphite processing plant in Coosa County, Ala., the company announced this summer. The graphite is used in the making of batteries for electric vehicles. The $80 million project will create 100 new jobs, and the mining of the mineral will result in a $124 million investment in its second phase.

KC Logistics invests $12 million in Athens, Ala.
KC Logistics is set to invest $12 million in a new project that will bring around 100 jobs to Athens. The company will transport seats from TBAKI to Mazda Toyota Manufacturing.

German auto parts supplier expanding again in Cullman
German auto supplier REHAU plans to invest $50 million in expanding its plant in Cullman. The company is a major supplier to the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Ala. REHAU will hire 150 workers in the deal.

KENTUCKY

Martinrea expansion means more than $31 million investment in Kentucky
Martinrea Hopkinsville, a Tier 1 automotive supplier of lightweight structures and propulsion systems, will expand its presence in Christian County, Ky., with an investment of more than $31 million that will create 33 jobs.

Auto supplier adding 150 jobs in Elizabethtown
Metalsa is hiring to fill at least 150 new positions after expanding its Elizabethtown plant to handle new products for electric vehicles. The Tier 1 auto supplier currently produces frames and other parts for the Ford Expedition, Navigator and F-150. Now, the facility is also going to make frames and battery trays for Ford and RIvian electric vehicles.

Firestone to add 250 jobs in Whitley County
Firestone Industrial Products plans to create 250 full-time jobs in Williamsburg with a $50 million expansion of its automotive air springs manufacturing plant.

MISSISSIPPI

Manufacturer to locate HQ in Olive Branch
Edelbrock, a manufacturer of specialty auto parts for the aftermarket, will soon be locating its headquarters in Olive Branch, creating 200 new jobs in the process.

OKLAHOMA

Big EV automotive deal in rural Oklahoma
It has been reported that a site in Oklahoma came in second for the massive Tesla truck plant that Elon Musk is locating in Austin near its airport. The second-place prize may be electric car manufacturer Canoo. The startup EV maker announced plans to build a $400 million plant at the
MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor, just east of Tulsa. The deal, as announced, will create 2,000 jobs. The site, a former military base, is unique in that it is over 9,000 acres. Canoo execs cited Oklahoma’s “energy-forward initiatives” as a major factor in its decision to locate the “mega microfactory.”

SOUTH CAROLINA

New United States Postal Service vehicle plant in Spartanburg to house over 1,000 jobs
Oshkosh Defense will invest $155 million to locate a plant that will produce the next generation USPS delivery vehicle. The company will assemble zero-emission battery electric vehicles and fuel-efficient, low-emission internal combustion engine vehicles that will replace existing USPS delivery trucks. The plant will be built in Spartanburg and create more than 1,000 jobs

Volvo invests $118 million to build EVS in South Carolina
Volvo Cars says it will invest $118 million in its plant in Ridgeville to build the fully electric Polestar 3 vehicles. The Polestar 3 is the third vehicle scheduled to be built at the South Carolina plant. This expansion brings the total Volvo Cars investment in South Carolina to more than $1.2 billion.

South Carolina Ports breaks another record
South Carolina Ports celebrates its strongest fiscal year on record for containers handled at the Port of Charleston. SC Ports handled 2.55 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) at Wando Welch Terminal, North Charleston Terminal and Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal in fiscal year 2021 (which ended June 30th). Vehicles remained a strong business segment, up 27 percent compared to the prior year.

New automotive supplier coming to Greenville County
A Michigan-based auto supply company, Gissing North America, will bring 116 new jobs and an $18 million dollar investment to Greenville County. The company will produce overhead, interior, exterior and cargo management components.

Frauenthal Gnotec announces 82 new jobs for Laurens County
Frauenthal Gnotec announced in June it will invest $8.2 million to establish operations in Fountain Inn and expects to create 82 jobs. The Swedish manufacturer of metal components for the automotive industry will expand production into an existing 68,500-square-foot facility there.

Rolls-Royce’s MTU in Aiken County is expanding
Rolls-Royce’s MTU has announced it will make a $17 million investment in its plant at its MTU Aiken manufacturing facility in Graniteville, S.C. The deal will add 20 new jobs at the plant to remanufacture and overhaul used engines.

TENNESSEE

Could Audi build electric vehicles at VW plant in Tennessee?
German automaker Audi builds its EVs in Germany and Belgium. At some point it will need to build electric vehicles in the U.S. like everyone else, but it is unlikely for Audi to build a whole new plant with a facility in Mexico and its parent company VW already preparing for EV manufacturing. One clue suggests that Audi, if it builds EVs in the U.S., would do it at parent company VW’s plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. Audi shares the same all-electric architecture as the ID.4 — VW Group’s MEB platform — which would make production of the Audi Q4 e-tron quite possible in Tennessee.

Volkswagen Chattanooga ending sedan assembly to concentrate only on SUVs
Volkswagen is dumping the Passat sedan production at its Tennessee plant. The plant is readying for all SUV production and beginning a massive effort at electrifying all its vehicles in Chattanooga.

Electric car battery expands big plant in Chattanooga
NOVONIX, a maker of materials for the batteries used in electric vehicles, announced a nice deal in Chattanooga this summer. The company is investing $160 million and adding almost 300 jobs in the expansion, which will for the most part support Volkswagen’s manufacturing of electric vehicles at its plant in Chattanooga.

Sungwoo Hitech locating first U.S. manufacturing operations in Washington County, Tenn.
Sungwoo Hitech will invest $40 million to locate its first U.S. manufacturing operations in Telford, Tenn. The Korean automotive supplier will create 117 new jobs to manufacture metal stamped components — bumpers, rear components and side framing — for customers including General Motors, Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen and BMW.

Big auto parts company expands in Tennessee
Martinrea announced in the summer quarter that it will expand its facilities in Robertson County, Tenn. The auto parts manufacturer will invest $40 million and hire 97 in the deal.

Flex-N-Gate expansion to create 91 jobs in Rockford
Flex-N-Gate in Rockford will grow its workforce by 91 new jobs. The automotive parts supplier is investing $5.5 million to upgrade and expand its manufacturing facility and increase production of its lighting materials.

Seating manufacturer bringing 100 jobs to Franklin, Tenn.
A South Korean manufacturer plans to bring 100 jobs to a new Franklin stamping plant. Daechang Seat Company manufactures metal seat components for Subaru, Hyundai and Kia.

TEXAS

Amazon-backed Rivian in talks for $5 billion Texas plant
Rivian Automotive, the electric-vehicle startup backed by Amazon, is in talks to invest at least $5 billion to build a factory near Fort Worth. The facility would be able to produce 200,000 vehicles a year and would create at least 7,500 jobs by 2027.