Automotive Anticipated to Broach $4.8 Billion in Spending for 2005

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Last year, 2004, was a good year for the automotive industry, at least when it came to capital spending. The industry topped $4.7 billion in capital and maintenance spending in the U.S., a healthy indicator that, in general, things are going well. However, 2005 appears, at least at this early stage, to have the potential to be even better, with proposed spending already reaching $4.8 billion for the year.

Already, for 2005, there are forty-seven projects worth over $1.9 billion that have been approved and are nearing construction kick-off. This is an early indicator that the year could be huge when it comes to spending as this is a very significant number of projects, worth a great deal of capital.

As of January 1, 2005, General Motors Corporation (NYSE:GM) (Detroit, Michigan) is the big winner in the spending sweepstakes for 2005. Of the top ten projects on the books for this year, General Motors Corporation can lay claim to six of them, worth over $1.3 billion in capital investment. These projects cover a great deal of geographic territory, as well, with two in Michigan, two in Indiana, and one each in Kansas and Texas.

In addition to the projects moving to construction now, in 2004 the automotive industry spent over $530 million on 220 maintenance projects. The level of spending for maintenance, repair, and equipment overhaul at automotive manufacturing plants should continue into 2005, increasing the total investment by the industry even further for the year.

From a geographical standpoint, the big winner is expected to be Michigan, with twenty-three projects planned worth $1.1 billion. Georgia with $887 million, at eleven projects is a close second, with states such as Ohio ($554 million, twelve projects), Alabama ($395 million, ten projects) and Indiana ($390 million, sixteen projects) surging forward, as well.

Click on the image at right to view the 2005 Automotive Industry Spending by State Chart.

In addition, there are several states (Kansas, Maryland, Ontario, Texas, and South Carolina) where automotive industry spending is anticipated to exceed $115 million in each state. This will be a very significant increase over spending in 2004.

All in all, the automotive industry continues to surge forward with its spending and development of new vehicles. The spending habits of the industry are constantly evolving and expanding, mostly driven by new technologies and the spending habits of the consumer. When it is all said and done, 2005 appears to have the potential to surpass 2004 by a hefty margin, both in number of projects and in dollars spent.

Industrialinfo.com's Automotive Database is a comprehensive collection of over 1,400 operational, planned, engineered, and under construction OEM and tier supplier's plants, within the automotive industry, as well as all of the capital and maintenance projects associated with these plants, both grassroot and operational.

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