Toyota, Mazda to Build $1.6 Billion Plant in Alabama

[Pioneer 1,373]

 

 

The plant, which will employ up to 4,000 people and produce about 300,000 vehicles a year, will be located in Huntsville, Alabama, and is a boon for the state, where Toyota has a large engine plant and an existing network of automotive suppliers.

 

https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2018-01-09/exclusive-toyota-mazda-to-build-16-billion-plant-in-alabama-sources

[Pioneer 1,373]

 

 

Toyota and Mazda announced plans for a new plant in August. Toyota said it would shift production of Corollas from Canada to the new venture rather than in Guanajuato, and would build Tacoma pickups in Mexico instead.

 

Funny how they can produce Corolla's in the USA but Ford can't make a Fusion in US or Focus on the continent.

[tbone 455]

 

Funny how they can produce Corolla's in the USA but Ford can't make a Fusion in US or Focus on the continent.

Agreed, I have difficulty understanding this.

[rperez817 184]

Huntsville, Alabama is an ideal location for Toyota's new plant. The city has one of the strongest local economies in the nation. It also has more engineers per capita than any other large American city.

 

In the past four years, Remington Arms Company, Polaris Industries, NASA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and hundreds of computing and biotechnology companies have all opened new or expanded operations in Huntsville.

[silvrsvt 1,546]

 

Funny how they can produce Corolla's in the USA but Ford can't make a Fusion in US or Focus on the continent.

Cheaper labor costs?

 

Huntsville, Alabama is an ideal location for Toyota's new plant. The city has one of the strongest local economies in the nation. It also has more engineers per capita than any other large American city.

 

In the past four years, Remington Arms Company, Polaris Industries, NASA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and hundreds of computing and biotechnology companies have all opened new or expanded operations in Huntsville.

 

Its still Alabama :p

[akirby 6,968]

Agreed, I have difficulty understanding this.

 

What's so hard to understand about building a non-UAW plant in a small Southeastern city where they get massive tax breaks in exchange for creating so many well paying jobs?

[Pioneer 1,373]

Cheaper labor costs?

 

Cheaper than Mexico?

[akirby 6,968]

Cheaper than Mexico?

 

Factoring in the tax breaks, probably.

[rperez817 184]

 

What's so hard to understand about building a non-UAW plant in a small Southeastern city where they get massive tax breaks in exchange for creating so many well paying jobs?

 

Huntsville, Alabama isn't a small city. The incentives packages from the local (Huntsville and Madison County) and state (Alabama) governments aren't any more massive than other places that competed for this project.

 

Tax breaks would be meaningless to Toyota & Mazda if they selected a location that lacked a well educated workforce, good infrastructure, and an excellent quality of life. Fortunately Huntsville has all three in spades.

Edited January 10 by rperez817

[akirby 6,968]

 

Huntsville, Alabama isn't a small city. The incentives packages from the local (Huntsville and Madison County) and state (Alabama) governments aren't any more massive than other places that competed for this project.

 

Tax breaks would be meaningless to Toyota & Mazda if they selected a location that lacked a well educated workforce, good infrastructure, and an excellent quality of life. Fortunately Huntsville has all three in spades.

 

It's smaller than Detroit or Atlanta, and I wasn't only talking about this plant and Huntsville. I was also talking about the other plants in SC, GA and Tennessee. And nobody said or implied anything about the workforce or infrastructure, so I don't know why you brought that up.

[rperez817 184]

And nobody said or implied anything about the workforce or infrastructure, so I don't know why you brought that up.

 

Yes sir, just wanted to clarify that education and workforce readiness, infrastructure, and quality of life are the main reasons why Toyota & Mazda chose Huntsville for their newest facility. The tax breaks are incidental to the automakers' decision. This was the case with Remington, Polaris, Boeing, GE Aviation, NASA, and other organizations that also chose Huntsville for new or expanded operations.

[akirby 6,968]

 

Yes sir, just wanted to clarify that education and workforce readiness, infrastructure, and quality of life are the main reasons why Toyota & Mazda chose Huntsville for their newest facility. The tax breaks are incidental to the automakers' decision. This was the case with Remington, Polaris, Boeing, GE Aviation, NASA, and other organizations that also chose Huntsville for new or expanded operations.

 

 

I guarantee you tax breaks were not incidental to that decision because there are dozens of other cities with the same qualifications. Huntsville may be better than most but they're not winning that bid without competitive tax breaks.

[fuzzymoomoo 2,684]

 

 

I guarantee you tax breaks were not incidental to that decision because there are dozens of other cities with the same qualifications. Huntsville may be better than most but they're not winning that bid without competitive tax breaks.

Hell, Detroit could have been one. Theres a ton of empty manufacturing sites in and around the city and theres plenty of people in need of jobs around here. Im sure the state and local governments would have been more than willing to work out a deal.

[akirby 6,968]

Hell, Detroit could have been one. Theres a ton of empty manufacturing sites in and around the city and theres plenty of people in need of jobs around here. Im sure the state and local governments would have been more than willing to work out a deal.

 

It's not a coincidence that they're choosing cities in the SouthEast. Weather, cost of living, right to work state, etc. Detroit really isn't an option.

[tbone 455]

 

What's so hard to understand about building a non-UAW plant in a small Southeastern city where they get massive tax breaks in exchange for creating so many well paying jobs?

I agree with you on is the wage difference but tax breaks are common with any major project. Those incentives are negotiated and are usually available to whomever is initiating a major project. Are you aware of any studies comparing UAW labor to non-UAW labor? I would like to actually see the difference between the two.

[fuzzymoomoo 2,684]

 

It's not a coincidence that they're choosing cities in the SouthEast. Weather, cost of living, right to work state, etc. Detroit really isn't an option.

Michigan is a right to work state.

[akirby 6,968]

I agree with you on is the wage difference but tax breaks are common with any major project. Those incentives are negotiated and are usually available to whomever is initiating a major project. Are you aware of any studies comparing UAW labor to non-UAW labor? I would like to actually see the difference between the two.

 

Since the new contracts after the bankruptcies with the 2 tier wage system they're a lot closer. I think the non-UAW toyota plants were paying $35/hr or something like that, but the differences are they have a lot more flexibility with benefits and they're not limited to 2 wage tiers. They can also use contractors and temporary employees to keep overall costs down. They're still well paying jobs - probably at the top of the scale for that type of work in those areas.

 

Mexican labor at Ford plants is not as cheap as some people believe.

 

What I'm saying is it's easier for Ford or GM to build vehicles in Mexico than it would be to try and build a non-UAW plant in the Southeast.

[akirby 6,968]

Michigan is a right to work state.

 

So it is, as of 2012. Did not know that.

[fuzzymoomoo 2,684]

 

So it is, as of 2012. Did not know that.

[fuzzymoomoo 2,684]

That was the first major thing people got pissed off at Rick Snyder about even though it was voted on by the people.

[rperez817 184]

Hell, Detroit could have been one. Theres a ton of empty manufacturing sites in and around the city and theres plenty of people in need of jobs around here. Im sure the state and local governments would have been more than willing to work out a deal.

 

The horrible education system and high crime rate in the city of Detroit are reasons enough for any business to avoid locating a major facility there. Even if Detroit gave companies land and buildings for free it wouldn't make sense.

 

In Michigan, Ann Arbor would be a much better choice. Toyota actually did a $126 million expansion to their Technical Center in York Township near Ann Arbor recently. It complements the new U.S. headquarters in Texas.

 

http://corporatenews.pressroom.toyota.com/releases/toyota+technical+center+breaks+ground+expansion.htm

Edited January 10 by rperez817

[fuzzymoomoo 2,684]

Almost nobody who works in Detroit lives in Detroit. They mostly live in Oakland and Macomb counties.

[rperez817 184]

Almost nobody who works in Detroit lives in Detroit. They mostly live in Oakland and Macomb counties.

 

Parts of Oakland and Macomb counties may be competitive too. Like Huntsville, Alabama, they have a high concentration of engineers in the workforce. I'm sure those counties also have much better run governments than Detroit.

[fuzzymoomoo 2,684]

 

Parts of Oakland and Macomb counties may be competitive too. Like Huntsville, Alabama, they have a high concentration of engineers in the workforce. I'm sure those counties also have much better run governments than Detroit.

lately is about the same.

 

Even if Detroit proper isnt necessarily suitable there plenty of places west that would probably work. Romulus has a lot of empty space they want to do anything with. Ann Arbor wouldnt necessarily work well. Not many major avenues in or out, and the yuppie/hipster crowd that infests that city wont want that kind of thing in their back yard.

[Kev-Mo 276]

Agreed, I have difficulty understanding this.

 

Understand this, and you will no longer have difficulty:

Most Americans do not know that foreign based corporations don't pay any federal tax by the magic wand of corporate accounting that repatriates their profits back to the parent country - in this case, Japan. This is why so many of the products and familiar brand names we buy and consume every day are now foreign owned.

 

This fact, and the local tax breaks negotiated by the likes of the 'Toyota Republicans i.e Richard Shelby (remember him scolding Allan Mulally at the hearings?) give foreign manufacturers a huge advantage over established American based companies.

 

Not just autos, LG, Samsung, Frigidare, Motorola (Lenovo), Electrolux, Ben and Jerry's, Bridgestone/Firestone, General Electric Appliance (Haier), Gerber, all the Unilever brands...the list is endless- All these common household names are sending money overseas and have a huge tax advantage over American based manufacturers.