Toyota and Mazda to Boosts Alabama’s Influence in Auto Industry

Toyota and Mazda announced their plan to build a new final assembly plant in Huntsville, Alabama as the state of Alabama is flexing its muscle and influence in the U.S. automobile business.

Toyota to build new plant in Alabama on 2021.

The plant, which will hire 4,000 workers and crank out up to 300,000 automobiles annually, is planned to opened in 2021. Once the plant is open, Alabama could become the fourth-biggest state in the U.S. when it comes to manufacturing new automobiles.

According to the Center for Automotive Research, which tracks auto manufacturing in the U.S., Alabama is currently tied in fifth place, with Tennessee, in the annual auto production.

“With this announcement, our world changes overnight,” Tommy Battle, the mayor of Huntsville, stated.

“It vaults Alabama to the top as an industry leader in producing the next generation of cars that will power our nation,” the mayor added.

A data showed from the Center for Automotive Research that Michigan built 19 percent of the vehicles manufactured in the U.S. in 2017. This is more than double of the production in Alabama.

Due to location, a state with 4.8 million people is becoming more attractive for automakers and suppliers.

“This plant is going to be in the center of auto alley,” a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Thomas Klier said. He has studied the shifting auto-manufacturing footprint in America and stated that Alabama benefits from being so close to other Toyota facilities.

“It's a very sensible location,” added Klier. “Toyota has an engine plant in Huntsville and two other facilities nearby in Mississippi, so this makes sense.”

Akio Toyoda, the President of Toyota said, “Our investment to establish a new vehicle assembly plant with Mazda builds on the strong success we have enjoyed in Alabama where we produce engines for the North American market.”

Meanwhile, Mazda Motor Corporation will become the newest automaker to establish a final assembly plant in the United States.

“We hope to work, learn, and grow together with the people of Alabama and Huntsville,” Masamichi Kogai, the president and CEO of Mazda Motor, stated.

The Japanese automaker is planning to build an SUV at the new plant. The company moves to improve a model line-up that has historically relied more on autos than utility cars.

In 2017, Mazda sold just fewer than 300,000 automobiles in the U.S.

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