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Volvo Opening First US Factory in South Carolina: Production Will Start in 2018

Volvo may be a Swedish car company, but in order to survive in this highly competitive market, changes are being made. Thus, some of the cars they sell in America will be assembled locally in North Carolina. Build 'em where you sell 'em!
Volvo Opening New Factory in South Carolina: Production Will Start in 2018 11 photos
Photo: Volvo
Volvo Opening New Factory in South Carolina: Production Will Start in 2018Volvo Opening New Factory in South Carolina: Production Will Start in 2018Volvo Opening New Factory in South Carolina: Production Will Start in 2018Volvo Opening New Factory in South Carolina: Production Will Start in 2018Volvo Opening New Factory in South Carolina: Production Will Start in 2018Volvo Opening New Factory in South Carolina: Production Will Start in 2018Volvo Opening New Factory in South Carolina: Production Will Start in 2018Volvo Opening New Factory in South Carolina: Production Will Start in 2018Volvo Opening New Factory in South Carolina: Production Will Start in 2018Volvo Opening New Factory in South Carolina: Production Will Start in 2018
The Berkeley County factory, located outside of Charleston, will make "latest generation Volvo models sometime in 2018". The grounds will be set in early autumn 2015, part of a major $500 million investment plan meant to boost American sales.

“This new global industrial footprint and a complete product renewal forms the foundation for our growth and profitability targets,”
said Hakan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo Car Corporation.

Volvo Cars will employ around 2,000 people at this factory, making about 100,000 vehicles per year initially.

The first Volvos arrived Stateside in 1955. Lex Kerssemakers, President and CEO of Volvo Cars of North America, said he was excited to see that the first American factory is being built in South Carolina.

Why Berkeley County? Because, the Swedish company says, it has access to international ports, a well-trained workforce and good infrastructure. An economic impact analysis found that up to 8,000 total jobs would be created throughout connecting industries and parts suppliers and that the plant would contribute approximately $4.8 billion in total economic output annually.

What are they going to build in America?

Nobody seems to know, but it needs to be a mid-size or bigger. The Torslanda plant in Gothenburg, Sweden has just started a 3rd production shift to meet customer demand for the new XC90, which exceeded 30,000 units. Carolina could help them keep up.

Many other premium car companies make SUVs in America. For example, BMW makes pretty much all of them in Spartanburg, while Mercedes assembles its 4x4 in Alabama.

In April 2015, Volvo's US sales were flat with 4,636 retail deliveries where the XC60 and S60 were the top sellers. However, these mid-size models are made in two different European factories (Torslanda and Ghent), so Volvo probably doesn't need extras.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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