Volvo Shuns The Unionized Rust Belt And Chooses South Caroliona For New US Assembly Plant

Volvo Cars has chosen a site in South Carolina for a $500 million investment in its first U.S. plant, it said today, targeting a bigger share of the increasingly competitive North American premium market.

Work will begin this year on the factory in Berkeley County, with production due to start in 2018 and quickly reach 100,000 vehicles a year, Volvo said in a statement.

The investment is part of a drive by China's Geely , which bought Volvo Cars from Ford Motor in 2010, to rebuild a brand that ran into trouble in the financial crisis.

"This is a clear sign of commitment to the revival of our U.S. business," Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson said.

But the move coincides with toughening competition in the North American luxury car market.

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jeffgall - 5/11/2015 2:00:50 PM

+2 Boost

South Carolina is. Right to Work state, meaning employees do not have to be unionized if they chose. This is why Boeing opened a facility here too.

MDarringer - 5/11/2015 9:13:09 PM

+4 Boost

That Volvo is building a plant in the first place is the puzzling thing given how terrible their sales are.