Alabama and North Carolina are the final states left in the running for Toyota and Mazda’s $1.6 billion collaborative production venture. Tennessee, Texas and South Carolina are now out of the running but, as you know, there can only be one.
Which state is the smart money on? Your guess is as good as ours, but Toyota does already have an engine manufacturing plant in Huntsville, Alabama. It might make sense to keep things centrally located, especially if it NAFTA falls through and Toyota has to shift Corolla production back to Mexico and bring the Tacoma into the states. Of course, if that doesn’t happen, a factory closer to West Virginia and the little 2ZR-FE DOHC might be preferable.
Of course, with both companies pressing for a billion-dollar incentive package to build on U.S. soil, the final decision may come down to whichever state is willing to provide the better deal.
Based on Toyota’s August announcement, the site will have an annual capacity of around 300,000 units and will create some 4,000 jobs.
The shared factory is expected to open in 2021 and would be the first new auto assembly plant to be announced under President Donald Trump — who has been both pressuring and praising Toyota (and other manufacturers) over building vehicles in the United States. A final decision is expected to be announced by the automakers early next year.
[Source: Automotive News] [Image: Toyota]
Wonder how much tax incentives these states are offering up?
At least it’s going to an established couple of automakers with proven track records, instead of a vaporware EV / three-wheeled car company. Then again, Nevada did quite well with the Faraday Future thing, because they wrote it so that the overwhelming majority of the funds were stored in a trust, which the company wouldn’t receive until it hit the main milestone…which it did not.
If doing quite well means avoiding losses, I’d say you are correct.
Not sure if that effort on FF kept them from scoring something that would actually come to fruition or not…opportunity cost.
“…with both companies pressing for a billion-dollar incentive package to build on U.S. soil”
It looks like $1 billion, or $1,000,000,000.
Just because they’re asking for it doesn’t mean they’ll get it.
I hope the “Tesla receives government handouts” crowd reads this story. When it comes to corporate welfare, all the kids are doing it these days.
“…with both companies pressing for a billion-dollar incentive package to build on U.S. soil”
“Based on Toyota’s August announcement, the site will have an annual capacity of around 300,000 units and will create some 4,000 jobs.” Heck, Fremont is half again as big.
As for Toyota/Mazda, I vote for Alabama. The engine plant there makes it a compelling choice.
Just payment of $250,000 a job for the lucky state that gets bent over. My money is on Alabama also for the same reason.
http://www.aei.org/publication/cbo-obama-stimulus-may-have-cost-as-much-as-4-1-million-a-job/
“OK, so without the stimulus, there would be anywhere from 200,000 to 1.5 million fewer people employed right now? That means the current cost-per-job created is somewhere between $4.1 million and $540,000.”
When Obama spend $4M per job, he’s the mostest smartest man in the herstory of the world. When Alabama spends $250K per job, they’re just a bunch of dumb rubes, too stupid to understand how all that fancy accountin’ n’ stuff works.
And when Democrat wonder boy Elon Musk gets $5B for the govt and can’t produce more than 10 cars a month….he’s a genius!
LOL
Stop making sense.
That made sense to you?
It’s a partisan bomb-throwing rant with the rhetorical approach of a teenager.
I never voted for Obama but you offer a pointless argument. I’ve also been quite vocal in the B&B on being against Tesla. So what is your argument? Corporate welfare is OK if you’re a Republican run state? Child molesters make great senators (see I can fire off strawmen too). Dennis Hastert molested kids so all Republicans are molesters? I mean what – where you going here?
The transplants have always tried to maximize the number of states to have the greatest number of politicians on board and more incentives. I don’t think NC has any car/light truck assy plants, so it might win on that premise.
Gosh, no other industry does that right?
I remember when we got our first Nissan plant (somewhere around 1984-85). The state government certainly ponied up some significant tax credits, direct interstate roads, etc. My age is kicking in on the initial hire count, but I think it was around 2,500 – 3,000.
Now that stands at 8,000 workers, and numerous suppliers that came in as well. Then came the engine plant in Decherd, TN and by 2014 they had the #1 spot in terms of foreign manufacturers built in the US.
California finally raised taxes so much they moved the headquarters to Brentwood/ Franklin TN, and if you were a homeowner in the area (as I am), they would leave buy offers at the front door- they couldn’t believe how much house they could get for their money.
It’s the same reason Toyota moved their HQ to TX. Taxes, schools, cost of living, etc. They even bought the naming rights to the Titans stadium.
Now this deal, (if the numbers are right) is $250k per job. Pretty rich for my pay scale, but I would have to say that overall it’s been a win-win for both sides here in TN.
Any time you provide jobs in America, it’s a good thing.
But because of America’s economic and tax policies over the past 24 years, more US companies have left the US than foreign companies have come in to America.
Hopefully that will change during the Trumpian MAGA movement, but I doubt it.
Trump is fighting his own Republicans plus the ‘crats plus the deeply entrenched denizens of the Intel agencies mired in the DC swamp.
I would be greatly surprised if anything of consequence gets done withing the next three years. By that I mean that nothing of long-lasting consequence was accomplished over the past 10 months and the Republicans had eight looooong years to plan ahead and get their act together.
The Republicans are all talk. No action.
So much for the boycott of NC following the “bathroom law”.
Blue states begging Amazon to build HQ2 with gajillions of tax incentives: AWESOME MAN!!
Red States providing moderate tax incentives to build cars there….worst thing since the beginning of time
Ahh to be a liberal…..
The Mazda/Toyota will be around for a long time. Providing jobs (and suppliers) for years to come. Seems a reasonable bet.
“The Mazda/Toyota will be around for a long time. Providing jobs (and suppliers) for years to come.”
While that is true, it does not mean that the build-quality is the same between North American-built and Japan-built.
A lady friend of ours just retired her 1987 Japan-built Camry and bought a brand-new Japan-built AWD RAV4. She looked at both and chose the one with the JT VIN.
Many of the parts aren’t even interchangeable.
“Many of the parts aren’t even interchangeable.”
Are you saying that if I wanted to purchase a part; year, make and model wouldn’t be sufficient, I’d also need country of origin?
To be fair, on some Japanese vehicles they use (or used to use) components from multiple suppliers that were not direct replacements for each other. So, when you went into the parts store, they would ask you: “Do you have the Mitsuba or the Hitachi distributor?” To which you would just stand there and stare blankly back at the parts counter person.
“Are you saying that if I wanted to purchase a part; year, make and model wouldn’t be sufficient, I’d also need country of origin?”
Exactly!
To wit: parts for my 1989 Japan-built Camry V6. and parts for my grand daughter’s 2008 Japan-built Highlander 4×4. Both are getting hard to find.
Special order maybe, ’cause no one stocks parts for Japan-built vehicles like CV-boots, radiators, etc, and nut/bolt threads are not the same.
You are well and truly up in the night if you think this kind of thing doesn’t run both ways.
Critical thought is hard but partisan thought is a good cheap high. Try the hard option once in awhile.
I’m sure Roy Moore would throw in some sweet young, young things to sweeten the Alabama pot.
Being from Huntsville, I’m hoping for Alabama.
I hesitantly hope Alabama. I live just down the road from the plant in Huntsville, AL. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. The problem is that Toyota hires X number, and farms another Y number from employment services. The number always changes, but the temporary or contract employees make much less and have worse benefits. Some are on for years and are promised permanent employment and it never happens.
But it’s never bad enough for the plant to unionize.
Because there is no other game in town. Only so many people can work at the local Walmart.
It’s been that way at Honda in Ohio since the beginning. Using temps makes things easier for the fluctuating head counts needed for fluctuating production requirements. In past years very few were permitted to apply for full-time Honda associate positions. I’m fairly certain that this hasn’t changed.