#504. Southern Automotive Conference – Continued Growth Seen in Automotive Industry

Southern Automotive Conference – Continued Growth Seen in Automotive Industry

The 2014 Southern Automotive Conference (SAC)was held October 8-10 in Birmingham, Alabama. This conference is the South’s leading event, attracting more than 500 industry professionals each year. The event provides a forum for top original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and major automotive suppliers to showcase new product development, collaborate on best practices, and discuss strategies to strengthen the region’s burgeoning automotive industry.

Participating states in the SAC are Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina. We want to share some highlights of the Alabama and southern automotive industry:

• * 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 been announced in Alabama since the start of 2013
• * Expansions at 82 Alabama auto industry facilities have been announced since the beginning of 2013, while 12 companies have announced new auto-related projects for the state during that time frame
• * Alabama’s three assembly plants produced 918,172 vehicles last year, and the number is expected to climb in coming years.
• * The South has emerged as an auto-producing powerhouse only in the last generation, after Mercedes-Benz placed its first U.S. factory in Alabama, BMW launched an operation in South Carolina, and Nissan selected Tennessee. Today, the region is home to 10 assembly plants, including three in Alabama. Total auto industry employment in the Southeast has reached 265,000.
• * The Southeast attracted an estimated $7.5 billion in new auto industry investment between 2010 and 2012, experts say.
• * Since 2011, Alabama alone has attracted more than 200 auto-related projects involving $4 billion in investment and 17,000 new jobs,
• * Alabama and other states in the region are targeting – with success – an expansion in the supply chain that serves the cluster of assembly plants in the South. Figures from the Alabama Department of Labor show that the state added 2,300 jobs at auto parts makers between August 2013 and August 2014.

Agracel is pleased to have a presence in Alabama and other south and southeastern states. We look forward as we see this industry continuing its growth pattern. Stay tuned…

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