Toyota, Mazda Plant Will Bring Over 3999 Jobs To Alabama

[Gimbiya]

Toyota and Mazda announced on Wednesday that they have chosen Alabama as the site for the company's new $1.6 billion auto plant that will eventually employ up to 4,000 people.

According to sources, the decision was between North Carolina and Alabama. The Raleigh News & Observer is reporting that North Carolina lost out on the plant because it does not have the supply chain logistics that the car companies desire.

Alabama has a law that allows economic incentives, such as payroll rebates, for large projects. And on Tuesday, lawmakers from the area proposed additional local tax incentives that appear aimed at the project. The bill would allow local tax abatements for projects with capital investments over $100 million.

Toyota, which is the world's largest auto maker, was criticized by President Donald Trump for taking auto production and jobs to Mexico. With the investment, both automakers hope to prove their good American corporate citizenship and appease the Trump administration's concerns about jobs moving overseas.

U.S. sales of small cars fell nearly 10% last year as buyers continued a massive shift toward SUVs and pickups. Corolla sales fell 14% for the year, to just under 309,000, according to Autodata Corp.

Toyota Motor Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. announced in August a joint venture to build a $1.6 billion assembly plant in the U.S. which would create 4,000 jobs and be up and running by 2021.

It is projected to produce 300,000 vehicles a year, with half being the Toyota Corolla and the rest an unspecified Mazda model. For some perspective, Alabama's Honda and Hyundai plants both produced more than 320,000 vehicles in 2017.

But the venture is more than that, as both companies hope to co-develop electric vehicles, safety features and connected-car technologies, according to published reports last year.

There has been no official confirmation from Alabama state officials, the City of Huntsville or from Toyota and Mazda as yet.

A 1,252-acre tract of farmland in Limestone County's Greenbrier community, which is part of Huntsville, is apparently the site where Toyota-Mazda might locate the plant.

The area, off Powell Road and Greenbrier Road, was passed over by Volkswagen in 2008 in favor of Chattanooga. Since then, it has been certified as a TVA Megasite, and an Advantage Alabama site by the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama.

The site is only a short drive from Polaris and the Target Distribution Center off Interstate 565.

Toyota already has factories in Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi and Texas, as well as an existing engine plant in Huntsville. Last year, the company announced a $106 million expansion there.

The Japanese multinational automaker, Mazda stopped manufacturing vehicles in the U.S. in 2012.

Alabama was identified as one of 11 states early on where the plant might land. By mid-November, the list was down to two states, with North Carolina being the other.
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