Toyota will build $1.3 billion EV battery plant in North Carolina

Toyota announced on December 6th that it will indeed build a $1.3 billion electric vehicle battery plant near Greensboro that will employ at least 1,750 people and help meet the auto giant’s growing goals of EV sales this decade. Officials gathered to unveil the project on the 1,800-acre Greensboro-Randolph Megasite in Liberty, about 70 miles west of Raleigh, where the plant will be located. It is the largest capital investment in state history.

 

Small Tulsa business expands to Broken Arrow adding 100 jobs

Tulsa-based Automotive Industries, a vehicle fleet repair company, recently purchased a 106,000-square-foot facility in Broken Arrow, Okla., with plans to add more than 100 new jobs. The 40-acre facility will also be the new headquarters for Automotive Industries.

 

Commonwealth Rolled Products investing $167 million in Kentucky mill

Commonwealth Rolled Products is investing more than $167 million in its Lewisport aluminum rolling mill, a project that will create 40 full-time jobs. New equipment and building upgrades are planned for the 2.3 million-square-foot facility to modernize the operation and better position Commonwealth to support automotive and industrial customers.

 

Another EV announcement in South Carolina

Proterra, a leader in the design and manufacturing of zero-emission electric transit vehicles and EV technology solutions for commercial applications, has announced new manufacturing operations in Spartanburg County. The company’s $76 million investment is expected to create more than new 200 jobs. Proterra’s new Spartanburg County operations will produce the company’s battery systems for commercial electric vehicles, including delivery and work trucks, industrial equipment, buses and more.

 

Rivian will build a second, $5 billion EV plant in Georgia

Amazon-backed EV startup Rivian is going to build a second factory in Georgia where it will assemble up to 400,000 electric vehicles per year. Rivian will start construction of the $5 billion facility in the summer of 2022 and expects to start making vehicles there in 2024.

 

Nokian Tyres adding 100 jobs in Tennessee expansion

Nokian Tyres plans to hire more than 100 workers for its Dayton, Tenn., manufacturing plant “in the next couple of years.” Nokian Tyres says the factory grew from 175 to about 325 employees in 2021 after an aggressive hiring campaign at the first of the year. Nokian continues to accept applications.

 

EV maker adding more jobs, opening third facility in Charlotte, N.C.

Arrival, a British electric vehicle company, is expanding yet again in Charlotte, adding 150 jobs and investing $11.5 million in a battery module production facility. It’s the latest announcement from the London-based firm that has brought hundreds of jobs to the region in recent years. Arrival is also opening a microfactory in Rock Hill, S.C., another near Charlotte Douglas International Airport, and its North American headquarters in South End.

 

SmartCap to expand in Fort Worth

South African company SmartCap plans to expand operations into Fort Worth. The international vehicle accessories firm will create 250 jobs to work in a distribution center for modular truck camper and bed enclosures and other accessories for recreation and commercial uses. The project has a capital investment of $55 million.

Michael Randle

In 2016, our cover story was titled “Wages, Riches and Pitchforks.” The story got a lot of attention by the media. In fact, Amazon (without my consent) still sells the piece I wrote as a cheap PDF. (You can read it for free. Just go to https://sb-d.com/magazine/article/wages-riches-pitchforks.)

Here is an excerpt from that article: Not all right-leaning capitalists are against raising the federal minimum wage. Entrepreneur Nick Hanauer, a self-proclaimed plutocrat and founder or financier of over 30 companies, sees a future of angry mobs with pitchforks in this country if something isn’t done about income inequality. Hanauer explains in one of his TED Talks, “While people like us plutocrats are living beyond the dreams of avarice, the other 99 percent of our fellow citizens are falling farther behind.”

Hanauer continued by saying, “You see, the problem isn’t that we have some inequality. Some inequality is necessary for a high-functioning capitalist democracy. The problem is that inequality is at historic highs today and it’s getting worse every day. And if wealth, power and income continue to concentrate at the very tippy top, our society will change from a capitalist democracy to a neo-feudalist rentier society like 18th century France. That was France before the revolution and the mobs with the pitchforks.”

Hanauer claims there is no evidence to support the theory that if low wage workers earn a little more, unemployment will escalate and the economy will collapse. In his TED Talk, he also claims that Seattle
(his hometown), which voted to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour in 2017 for some companies, has not seen negative effects from having one of the highest minimum wages in the country. “If trickle-down thinkers were right, then Washington State should have massive unemployment. Seattle should be sliding into the ocean. And yet, Seattle is the fastest-growing big city in the country,” Hanauer maintains.

“So I have a message for my fellow plutocrats and zillionaires and for anyone who lives in a gated bubble world: Wake up. Wake up. It cannot last. Because if we do not do something to fix the glaring economic inequities in our society, the pitchforks will come for us, for no free and open society can long sustain this kind of rising economic inequality. It has never happened.”

“There are no examples. You show me a highly unequal society, and I will show you a police state or an uprising. The pitchforks will come for us if we do not address this. It’s not a matter of if, it’s when. And it will be terrible when they come for everyone, but particularly for people like us plutocrats.”

Given the economic challenges and income inequality, why haven’t unions secured a better foothold in the South?

So, for four decades wage growth has been anemic, we have a stagnant population — an indication that those in their 20s and 30s do not believe they can afford children —
and income inequality where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. That being the case, why does organized labor continue to struggle in the 15 Southern states?

Organized union membership is roughly half that in the South compared to the rest of the country, which is around 5 percent of the labor force. There are some states in the South with union rates of 10 percent or more, but that’s rare. 

Twenty-seven states adhere to right-to-work laws; however, every state Southern Business & Development covers is a right-to-work state other than Missouri. A right-to-work law gives workers the freedom to choose whether or not to join a labor union in the workplace. This law also makes it optional for employees in unionized workplaces to pay for union dues or other membership fees required for union representation, whether they are in the union or not.

The law is highly political, with Republicans mostly backing right-to-work legislation in support of big business, and Democrats backing union membership in support of labor and the power of collective bargaining.

While this is not an opinion on right-to-work, there is no question that the South’s efforts to become the engine of the largest economy in the world dilute the influence of labor unions in the region. As entrepreneur Nick Hanauer said earlier in this story, the decline in union membership in the 1960s and 1970s coincided with the decreasing shares of income amongst the 90 percent and increasing income in the top 10 percent. Again, you can make that political all you want, but the numbers indicate that as unions lost their clout, the rich got richer and the poor and middle class lost any leverage they had. 

Now, that does not mean right-to-work is not beneficial to the South’s economy. It is. The South’s GDP now makes it the third largest economy in the world, behind only the U.S. and China. As you know, the South was dirt poor 100 years ago. Without right-to-work laws, there is no way the South could have become the fastest growing U.S. region in the largest economy in the world.

Much of that increase in GDP can be attributed to foreign direct investment. Where does Toyota operate most of its assembly plants and its headquarters in North America? Where does Mercedes-Benz have its only U.S. plant and North American headquarters? Where does BMW have its largest North American plant? By the way, none of those facilities are unionized. The answer is all of those facilities operate in the American South.

But that does not mean unions will not try to organize even foreign plants in the South. They have tried with high-profile union drives at Nissan in Mississippi, Boeing in South Carolina and Volkswagen in Tennessee, just to name a few. Workers, especially at large foreign manufacturing facilities, are extremely lucky to have a job at one of those plants. These facilities already pay way more in wages than the average wage in the South.

Regardless, there is about to be a reckoning when it comes to the South and union activity. In the fall 2021 quarter, Ford, a union company since 1941, announced it is investing $11.4 billion to further its electric vehicle production at a site in Stanton, Tenn., (near Memphis) and Glendale, Ky. Ford will invest $5.6 billion to build batteries and assemble the company’s electric F-Series vehicles in Tennessee. The Kentucky site is a $5.8 billion investment and will include twin battery factories. The two sites will house about 11,000 new jobs.

It will be interesting to see what will happen at those Ford plants when they are up and running. If they unionize, it could change everything in the region. If they don’t, then Ford made an awesome bet.

By Michael Randle

We have arrived at Southern Automotive Corridor 3.0. Phase 1 took us to the ’80s, second phase to the early 2000s. Now with electric cars, we are at 3.0, and it is amazing. Huge deals are flying everywhere in the Southern Auto Corridor.

This summer and fall quarter will be remembered 50 years from now as the most transformative period in the history of automotive manufacturing, not just in the South, but in the Midwest, too — the only two regions in the U.S. that are left with automotive assembly.

Even though Nissan, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz and their plants in the South have spent billions on electric vehicle technology, it really wasn’t until the second half of 2021 that just about everyone got in on the act. The billions spent earlier by some automakers in the South looks like chump change compared to what has been announced recently.

Massive EV-based projects were announced in the South in the second half of 2021. Ford announced projects the size of which we have never seen before. . .for example, automotive “cities” in Hardin County, Ky., and in Stanton, Tenn.

Ford announced its plans in September to create Blue Oval City at the West Memphis I-40 megasite in Stanton, Tenn. The new “city” includes an investment of nearly $6 billion to make electric vehicles, including a next-generation electric Ford F-Series model. Blue Oval City will also include (not counting suppliers) up to 6,000 new jobs. Over $800 million has been earmarked in incentives for Ford in the deal. Earlier in 2021, Ford announced it had increased its planned EV investment to $30 billion by 2025.

Here are some other EV automotive-related projects announced in the South just in the last six months:

• Ford Motor and battery supplier SK Innovation have plans to invest over $5 billion and hire over 5,000 in an electric battery plant at the Glendale Megasite in Hardin County, Ky.,  that will power EV vehicles in the future.
• The Ultium Cells LLC 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.
• Japan’s Nissan Motor Company will spend about $700 million at its two U.S. manufacturing plants in Mississippi and Tennessee to implement new technologies to make electric vehicles.
• Mercedes-Benz is opening an EV battery pack assembly facility on a second Alabama campus in Bibb County.
• Korean automaker Hyundai will begin EV production on the Genesis GV70 EV at its plant in Montgomery, Ala., beginning in 2022.
• Amazon-backed electric truck maker Rivian is expected to announce a
  $5 billion electric truck and SUV factory in East 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 also is home to SK Innovation, which 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.
• Japanese automaker Toyota has chosen the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite for a large electric battery plant to ramp up EV manufacturing in the U.S. The site is a 1,825-acre site rezoned for heavy industry located near the center of the state.
• 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.

There is no data available about the fact that our labor keeps decreasing, and there may not be for a decade or more. In the last three years, About 10,000 people a day on average retired in the U.S. Compare that to a little over 2,000 joining the workforce by turning working age (16), and you can easily see where the labor issues are. People are aging out of the workforce faster than the rate of people entering it.

But the U.S. should not feel like the Lone Ranger. People are aging out of the workplace virtually around the world. In fact, for most countries — especially the U.S. — “job creation” is no longer the most important factor for an economy. Particularly in the South, the region that has seen the toughest time since the Great Depression, job creation has been paramount. But that is no longer the case. Some years, the South creates as many new jobs as the other three regions combined.

We are now entering an era when our politicians stumping for office should literally slow the promotion of job creation and instead figure out how they are going to fill those jobs. There are well over 10 million jobs available in this country as of October and only 8.4 million people looking for work.

Also affecting the labor market in the U.S. — 15 percent of the population was retired in 2010. In 2020, that figure rose to 20 percent.

So, what to do? Millions of economists say, “not much.” The U.S. can increase legal immigration, which could result in reversing the trend, but for how long? Also, increasing legal immigration under President Trump literally gave it a bad name. His last year office, legal immigration — we are talking about working visas — dropped by 85 percent from over 1 million to 200,000.

Then again, a more productive workforce with the aid of automation and AI could help, too.

Alabama

1. Mercedes-Benz (Vance)

2. Honda (Lincoln)

3. Hyundai (Montgomery)

4. Mazda Toyota (Huntsville)

Georgia

5. Kia (West Point)

Kentucky

6. Toyota (Georgetown)

7. Ford (Louisville)

8. Ford Truck (Louisville)

9. GM (Bowling Green)

Mississippi

10. Nissan (Canton)

11. Toyota (Blue Springs)

Missouri

12. Ford (Kansas City)

13. GM (Wentzville)

South Carolina

14. BMW (Greer)

15. Daimler Vans (Ladson)

16. Volvo (Berkeley County)

Tennessee

17. Nissan (Smyrna)

18. Volkswagen (Chattanooga)

19. GM (Spring Hill)

20. Ford (Blue Oval City – Under construction)

Texas

21. GM (Arlington)

22. Toyota (San Antonio)

A city is created in West Tennessee

Ford announced its plans in September to create Blue Oval City at the West Memphis I-40 megasite in Stanton, Tenn. The new “city” includes an investment of nearly $6 billion to make electric vehicles, including a next-generation electric Ford F-Series model. The city will also include, counting suppliers, up to 6,000 new jobs. Over $800 million has been earmarked in incentives for Ford in the deal. Earlier in 2021, Ford announced it had increased its planned EV investment to $30 billion by 2025.

 

Big battery plant in middle Tennessee on schedule

The construction of the Ultium Cells LLC 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.

 

U.S. automakers beg Biden administration to waive tariffs on components from China

All domestic and foreign automotive OEMs and suppliers have pleaded with the Biden administration to lift tariffs on a wide range of components from China, especially those for electric-car batteries. Many of the components are not made anywhere but in China. One of those products is artificial or natural graphite. Big suppliers with plants in the South, such as Magna and SK Innovation, are asking for respite from tariffs on all the myriad switches, sensors, motors and other parts that go into a vehicle.

 

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.

 

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, Ala., 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.

 

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.

 

Is an Amazon-backed electric truck set for the Atlanta area?

While Fort Worth is a finalist for a $5 billion electric truck and SUV factory, it’s looking as if a site east of Atlanta may have the inside track on the big deal. The factory would include a new battery and vehicle assembly plant.

 

Is Toyota eyeing megasite in North Carolina for electric battery plant?

Rumors have it that Japanese automaker Toyota is eyeing 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. No formal agreement has been reached.

 

Mazda to assemble midsize crossover SUV at new Alabama plant

In the fall quarter, Mazda unveiled the first vehicle it will assemble at the new plant it shares with Toyota. The new model will be called the CX-50 and will join Toyota’s Corolla Cross, a smaller SUV that will also be built at the new plant. The $2.3 billion, 4,000-employee plant will be in full production sometime in 2022.

 

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 West Virginia expands assembly plant in Buffalo, W.Va.

Toyota West Virginia plans to invest $240 million to expand its assembly plant and add a dedicated production line of hybrid transaxles in Buffalo. The new investment will allow workers there to diversify their skillset and play a larger role in Toyota’s future producing electric vehicles in North America.

 

Auto products maker establishing East Coast hub near Charlotte, N.C.

Kentucky-based Holley Performance Products, a manufacturer of high-performance automotive products for cars and trucks, will invest $12.3 million to establish its East Coast hub in Mooresville.

 

NOVONIX investing $160 million Chattanooga, Tenn.

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.

 

BMW Manufacturing expands South Carolina presence 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, SC.

 

Dr. Schneider Automotive plans Mississippi operation

Germany-based Dr. Schneider Automotive Systems, a supplier of manufacturing 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.

 

Nemak expanding in Glasgow, Ky.

Manufacturer Nemak announced it will create 170 well-paying jobs with a $27 million expansion of its Nemak Kentucky operation in Glasgow to support future electric vehicle-related business. Nemak’s investment will support upgrades and new equipment at its facility there.

 

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 also is home to SK Innovation, which 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.

 

Central Motor Wheel of America opens 145-job expansion in Paris, Ky.

Central Motor Wheel of America recently held the grand opening of the expansion of its existing operations in Bourbon County. The automotive wheel manufacturer will add 145 new jobs.

Toyota announces $461 million investment in Kentucky plant

Toyota is investing $461 million into its first U.S. 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.

 

France-based Plastic Omnium expands in Anderson, S.C.

Plastic Omnium, an automotive equipment provider, will invest more than $17.7 million to expand operations in Anderson. The project is expected to create 76 jobs. The expansion will allow the company to produce bumpers and tailgates for General Motors’ new Lyric electric vehicle.

 

Faurecia to expand operations in Spring Hill, Tenn.

An automotive components manufacturer will expand its operations, creating 171 new jobs in Spring Hill. Faurecia will invest $18 million to expand its existing facility there to increase manufacturing capabilities, specifically the production of door panel assemblies for several major OEMs.

 

Plastikon Industries plans Texas manufacturing center

California-based Plastikon Industries, an automotive manufacturer and supplier of interior components to companies such as Tesla and Toyota, will open a new facility in Kyle, Texas. The $13.6 project is expected to create 200 full-time jobs in the region.

 

Toyota Motor Manufacturing announces new production line for 2022 Tundra engines

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama marked 20 years in Huntsville, Ala., by announcing that two new engines will be built at the Huntsville facility – a hybrid electric-powered twin-turbo V6 and a gas-powered twin-turbo V6, both of which will power the 2022 Toyota Tundra.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

Two huge Ford Motor deals

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 experience 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.

Global automotive supplier Auria to expand in South Carolina

Auria Spartanburg has announced that it is expanding its plant in Spartanburg to meet growing demand. The $12 million deal will create 103 new jobs. The company makes flooring, acoustic systems and other parts for a variety of automakers.

Auto parts supplier relocating to Texas site

Vehicle Accessories Inc. plans to relocate 315 manufacturing jobs and its $13.5 million annual payroll from Sunnyvale, Calif., and other locations to Mesquite, Texas. The company plans to combine operations in Sunnyvale, Buffalo (N.Y.), Toronto, Ontario and Magog, Quebec, to the new Mesquite location.  The relocation project will create 315 jobs.

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. The company makes four- and six-cylinder engines there are well as transmissions and hybrid trans-axles.

International automotive manufacturer to open facility in Central Texas

The Greater San Marcos Partnership announced in the fall that Plastikon Industries will open a new factory in Kyle, Texas. The company supplies interior components to companies like Tesla and Toyota. The $13.6 million deal will create 200 jobs.

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.

REHAU announces another expansion in Cullman, Ala.

German auto supplier REHAU is expanding again in Cullman, Ala. In the summer, REHAU officials said they would spend $50 million at the Alabama plant for new equipment and tooling. REHAU’s largest customer in Alabama is the Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa County.

Carvana creating jobs in Oklahoma

Auto retailer Carvana is investing in an inspection and reconditioning center in Oklahoma City that’s expected to bring more than 350 new jobs to the metro.

Auto supplier to establish first U.S. factory in Northeast Tennessee

Sungwoo Hitech America will place its first U.S. factory in Telford, Tenn. The company plans to produce bumpers, rear components, and side framing for a variety of automakers including BMW, Hyundai, Kia and Volkswagen. Approximately 115 jobs will be created.

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 which it builds in Chattanooga.

Could Audi build electric vehicles at VW plant?

German automaker Audi builds it 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 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.

 

German auto parts supplier expanding again in Cullman, Ala.

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

 

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.

 

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.

 

Another tech company heads to McKinney, Texas

Xcelerate Auto, a fintech company that focuses on electric vehicles, has relocated its headquarters from Frisco, Texas, to McKinney. Xcelerate provides funding support and other products to emerging electric vehicle manufacturers.

 

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.

 

$40 million steel plant planned for Madison, Ala.

Three companies are collaborating on a $40 million factory in Madison to supply needed steel components for auto manufacturers. Madison Metal Processing will begin later this year supplying steel blanks – the precursor for automotive surface body parties – for Mazda Toyota Manufacturing in Huntsville, as well as other automotive suppliers. The factory will hire about 40.

 

Diode Dynamics builds HQ in St. Charles, Mo.

Automotive LED lighting manufacturer Diode Dynamics is constructing a 70,000-square-foot headquarters facility on 10 acres in St. Charles. The project is expected to create 36 new jobs and the company will move all of its existing employees from Earth City, Mo.

 

Firestone breaks ground on Kentucky project

A global auto parts supplier has broken ground on a $51 million project adding 250 jobs at a rural Kentucky plant in an expansion tied to auto industry plans to ramp up electric vehicle production. Firestone Industrial Products was joined by state and local officials as construction officially began on the expansion in Williamsburg, Ky. The project is largely geared toward producing air suspension systems for electric vehicles.

Global shortage of computer chips has effect on the Southern Auto Corridor

The pandemic has created disruptions in the supply chain, especially the computer chip industry. Experts estimate that automakers in the U.S. will assemble 1 million fewer vehicles because of the dearth of computer chips. This in turn has created inflation in both used and new cars.

 

Amazon-based electric vehicle start-up Rivian announces it will build another assembly plant

In the summer quarter, electric vehicle start-up Rivian said it would build another assembly plant. The company has raised $10.5 billion to date and is currently building its first plant in Illinois.

 

Toyota celebrates 10 millionth Camry at Kentucky plant

Toyota’s first wholly owned vehicle plant in North America, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky (TMMK) in Georgetown, recently produced its 10 millionth Camry. Toyota also celebrated 35 years of operating the plant.

 

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 a massive effort at electrifying all its vehicles in Chattanooga.

 

Kaiser Aluminum relocating HQ to Williamson County, Tenn.

Kaiser Aluminum officials announced that the company will relocate its corporate headquarters from Foothill Ranch, Calif., to Franklin, Tenn. The producer of specialty aluminum products for aerospace, automotive and other industries will invest $3 million and create 80 jobs in Franklin.

 

Auto supplier adding 150 jobs in Elizabethtown, Ky.

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.

 

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 30). Vehicles remained a strong business segment, up 27 percent compared to the prior year.