North and South Carolina Compete for the Automotive Dollar

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The U.S. Mid-Atlantic region has a booming Automotive Industry. As many domestic and foreign companies look to stay competitive in the U.S. market by building new factories or expanding existing ones, the Mid-Atlantic states are in a constant race to land the latest economic boon.

The Mid-Atlantic states include the Carolinas, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.

With the exception of North Carolina, every state in the region boasts its own large automobile manufacturing facility. North Carolina has made many attempts to change this situation, but continuously loses out to its neighboring states. Particularly, there is an intense rivalry between it and South Carolina: Industrial Info is tracking 23 automotive capital investment projects in South Carolina worth $2.5 billion, whereas North Carolina has 15 projects worth $423.28 million.

Typically, states attempt to lure companies with tax breaks, expansive tracts of property, infrastructure improvements and other incentives to keep existing businesses operating, perform expansions, or build new facilities.

Automotive companies are highly sought because they generally are large job providers. Jobs are created within the factories themselves, or thorough construction labor, auto suppliers or logistic companies.

For example, South Carolina recently beat out North Carolina for a new Volvo (Gothenburg, Sweden) manufacturing facility, the company's first in the U.S. Construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2015 at the cost of $500 million for the initial phase of construction.

South Carolina also recently succeeded in obtaining a new Mercedes-Benz (Stuttgart, Germany) Splinter van manufacturing plant in Ladson. The city already has a reassembly plant, but the new production facility will include a new plant, body shop, paint shop and assembly line. It represents a projected investment of $500 million and is anticipated to begin construction in 2016.

Additionally, BMW's (FWB:BMW) (Munich, Germany) Greer assembly plant is in the midst of an expansion that, when finished, is expected cost $1 billion and increase plant capacity 50%, with up to 450,000 vehicles annually. For more information, see June 8, 2015, article - U.S. Mid-Atlantic to See Almost $6 Billion in Third-Quarter 2015 Kickoffs, Led by Natural Gas Power, Carbon Fibers.

While North Carolina does not possess its own automotive manufacturing plant, it does host many automotive suppliers. The Industrial Info database contains 84 operational automotive supplier plants, with three additional facilities under construction: GKN Driveline (Redditch, England) is building a $100 million expansion at its Newton transmission production facility, while Cooper-Standard Automotive Incorporated's (NYSE:CPS) (Novi, Michigan) plant in Goldsboro and Linamar Corporation's (TSX:LNR) (Guelph, Ontario) plant in Arden each are expected to begin their expansion projects before the close of the year. Cooper-Standard will spend $100 million, and Linamar plans to spend $115 million.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.