As the speed of innovation in the automotive industry quickens, assemblers at Rhenus SML in Genk, Belgium, do all they can to keep pace. Rhenus workers painfully learned the importance of this five years ago when Ford Motor Co. shut down its Genk plant, which sat adjacent to Rhenus's facility.
HUNTSVILLE, AL—The highly anticipated $1.6 billion Mazda Toyota Manufacturing (MTM) plant is well on its way to being complete. Concrete is being poured and pipes are being installed on the 2,400-acre campus.
DETROIT—General Motors and LG Chem will form a joint venture company to mass-produce batteries for electric vehicles. Together, the companies will invest up to $2.3 billion in the company, which will establish an assembly plant on a greenfield site in the Lordstown area of Northeast Ohio. The project is expected to create more than 1,100 new jobs.
In September, Toyota announced that it will invest $391 million in its truck assembly plant in San Antonio. Hyundai announced that it is investing nearly $300 million in its factory in Montgomery, AL. Brake manufacturer Bendix Spicer began construction on a $65 million expansion of its assembly plant Bowling Green, KY. And, automotive supplier Hirotec Group said it will invest $48 million to build a new assembly plant in Fayetteville, TN.
CHATTANOOGA, TN—Volkswagen of America has started construction on its $800 million electric vehicle production facility here that will include battery pack assembly.
MONTGOMERY, AL—Hyundai executives recently announced plans to add a new vehicle to the production lineup as part of a $410 million expansion project that will create 200 jobs at the company's manufacturing plant here.
SOUTHFIELD, MI–Lawrence Technological University unveiled its new Siemens Electro-Matic Industrial Engineering Laboratory at ceremony this month. Siemens Corp, a subsidiary of Siemens AG, was also honored as LTU’s Corporate Partner of the Year.