There’s something about the word “billion” that grabs your attention. People practically levitate when lottery jackpots get high, but there’s only been one in U.S. history that made it to 10 digits ($1.6 billion Powerball on Jan. 13, 2016).
That’s why the announcement that Mercedes-Benz will sink another $1 billion into its manufacturing plant in Vance, near Tuscaloosa, was such big news (and definitely ramped up the plant’s 20th birthday celebration).
Mercedes-Benz plans to manufacture SUVs for its EQ electric vehicle line at the plant, in addition to the GLE, GLE Coupe and GLS SUVs and C-Class sedans currently made there. Company officials say the target date for production is the start of the next decade.
Next year, the company will begin construction on a million-square-foot battery plant _ its first in the U.S., joining plants in China and Germany _ near the Vance facility. It should begin production by 2020.
We can hear the snickers from the internal combustion die-hards who’ll put down the gasoline nozzle “when it’s pried from my cold … .” (We don’t have to finish it; you get the point.)
We’ll note that Mercedes-Benz is playing the long game here, not thinking about the U.S. per se but about international markets, such as China which is about to ban fossil-fueled vehicles, which at present are more receptive to electric vehicles.
We’ll also note that electric vehicle sales in the U.S. are showing a 40 percent annual growth rate, according to data from the Union of Concerned Scientists, which projects they could make up 20 percent of the total U.S. market within eight years. It’s the future, folks.
There’s more: Mercedes-Benz on Sept. 22 broke ground on a Global Logistics Center (which will supply assembly plants with car kits) and an after-sales North American hub (which will provide spare parts for foreign markets) about 5 miles from the plant in Bibb County.
That’s on top of a $1.3 billion expansion project set to be completed next year at the main plant, which includes a 1.3 million-square-foot body shop.
Mercedes-Benz says the new stuff will add 600 jobs to the plant’s current workforce of 3,700. We welcome that news even if it’s 100 miles down the road, because the psychological and economic boost to Alabama as a whole is as significant as the new jobs.
The incentives _ which have proved to be investments _ that attracted Mercedes-Benz to Tuscaloosa County led the way to this state becoming a major player in the automotive industry. Within five years, Honda had set up shop in Lincoln, Toyota in Huntsville and Hyundai in Montgomery. The impacts of those plants extend far beyond their individual “neighborhoods.”
Consider this: Those who remember traveling that stretch of Interstate 20 prior to 1993, when the Mercedes-Benz plant was announced _ you may have been headed to Tuscaloosa to see the Alabama Crimson Tide play, or westward to Mississippi, Louisiana or Texas _ know there wasn’t anything there. It was a “greenfield,” basically untouched land like major manufacturers want.
Toyota and Mazda are looking for a place to put a $1.6 billion joint factory that will employ 4,000 people. Eleven states reportedly are being considered, including Alabama. What’s already here indicates that auto manufacturers take this state, and what it has to offer, quite seriously. We wish no ill will to other states, but we hope that gives Alabama an advantage.
Oh, did we mention that Etowah County has a “greenfield” between Interstate 59 and U.S. Highway 11? Are our hands, flesh and blood or metaphoric, raised high enough so they can be seen? They should be.
Online: http://www.gadsdentimes.com/
