Alabama auto facilities add green projects to line-up
LINCOLN, Alabama – Since the first dealer-ready Odyssey rolled down the assembly line at Honda’s Alabama plant on Nov. 14, 2001, the automaker’s facility has produced more than 3.2 million vehicles and engines. In the past 13 years, the $2 billion plant that sprawls over an area the size of 65 football fields has produced…
Alabama auto industry provides backdrop for regional conference
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – For the Alabama auto industry, the needle has been moving toward rapid growth, with production gains, new and redesigned models, job growth, and additional investment. Consider these facts: More than new 6,600 jobs in Alabama’s auto industry have been announced since the beginning of 2013 New auto-related investment topping $1.5 billion has…
Alabama-Japan partnership grows with new investment, jobs
MONTGOMERY, Alabama – Alabama is attracting new investment and job-creating projects from Japanese manufacturers as the relationship between the Asian economic powerhouse and the state continues to grow. This week, Japan-based Asahi Kasei, which operates manufacturing facilities around the globe, held a groundbreaking ceremonyfor a $30 million plant in Athens that will produce plastic pellets…
Consultants rank Alabama a top state for business, Area Development says
MONTGOMERY, Alabama – Site selection consultants surveyed by national economic development publication Area Development ranked Alabama a top state for doing business and gave high marks to the state for its labor climate and business environment. Alabama placed No. 4 in Area Development’s 2014 survey of the “Top States for Doing Business,” the fifth consecutive…
Sisters among first Mercedes Mechatronics graduating class
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — Sisters Stacey and Stephanie Dougherty are among the first Industrial Mechatronics graduating class at Mercedes-Benz U.S. International Inc. (MBUSI), the automaker’s Alabama operation. They join their father, Scott Dougherty, a Logistics Group Leader with 17 years at the Alabama plant, as members of the MBUSI family. Now Stephanie, 29, is about to start…
Business Facilities ranks Alabama No. 1 for auto manufacturing, gives high marks
MONTGOMERY, Alabama – Business Facilities magazine today ranked Alabama the top state for automotive manufacturing strength, citing accelerated job growth and production gains for Alabama’s auto industry, as well as potential for additional expansion. In its “2014 Rankings Report,” Business Facilities, a publication that targets site selectors and key industry decision-makers, gave Alabama high marks…
Mercedes-Benz launches C-Class mass production in Alabama
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – Mercedes-Benz officially launched mass production of the C-Class sedan today at its Alabama production facility, marking the first time the automaker’s U.S. plant has produced a sedan. Meanwhile, media reports from Frankfurt, Germany said the automaker plans to significantly increase output at the Alabama plant from its current level of 185,000 vehicles…
Asahi Kasei Plastics plans Alabama production facility with up to 100 jobs
ATHENS, Alabama – Asahi Kasei Plastics North America plans to invest more than $30 million to open its second U.S. production facility at a site in Limestone County, where the company plans to employ up to 100 people at full capacity, Governor Robert Bentley announced today. Asahi Kasei Plastics’ Athens plant will process plastic resin…
Auto supplier Engineered Plastic Components plans $7.3 million facility in Leeds
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Auto supplier Engineered Plastic Components Inc. said today that it plans to invest $7.3 million to open a manufacturing facility in Leeds with 110 jobs by the operation’s third year. The Grinnell, Iowa-based company has purchased a 75,000-square-foot office/warehouse facility in the Birmingham suburb for its first Alabama location, which also will…
Hyundai showcases Alabama assembly plant at Sonata debut in New York (video)
MONTGOMERY, Alabama – Hyundai showcased its Alabama assembly plant as the global automaker debuted the redesigned 2015 Sonata sedan with a splashy event today at the New York International Auto Show. With Hyundai Motor America President and Chief Executive Officer Dave Zuchowski on the stage at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, the company’s Montgomery…