Warning! We’re going to utter the name Trump. We’re not pandering to trending topics or being political—it happens to be a part of the story.
Depending on who you talk to, domestic manufacturing is the backbone of your economy. In a country as large as the US a lot of the country isn’t going to make it on tourism dollars. Trump has made it a pillar of his campaign platform claiming that his opponents garner a lot of union votes while allowing their jobs to go overseas. What the truth is, can be debated without end.
Trump said in 2019 that new car factories hadn’t been built in ages. Politifact, an internet fact checker saw this as “fake news.” This is the typical back and forth of politics. If Trump said he was old, fact checkers would compare him to a tree or a mountain, and say he was lying about his age.
So is Trump lying about car factories being built under his potential next term in office? We can tell you what new factories are planned, or being expanded, domestically. So, we’ll stick to that.
Kandi:
Kandi is looking for an electric car factory after having success in China, they have plans to create off-road vehicles too, such as a new K27 and K23. Availability will not start until the fourth quarter. It is not clear whether it will be the US or Mexico.
Tesla:
Tesla has reported that they want to build a plant in Texas, which is a message to California about Taxes and Covid Shutdowns. Texas is throwing in a lot of tax breaks, which helps. Tesla is looking around Travis country, with such vehicles as the Model Y, Roadster and the Cybertruck. They’re not ruling out Oklahoma for a plant in the future.
Tesla wants to build gigafactories, which doesn’t seem to have a specific size, but suggests a building larger than a megafactory. It might also refer to the number of processes completed at that factory. Some “factories” are final assembly only, with parts sourced around the world. Perhaps a gigafactory builds or assembles some components onsite before sending them to final assembly.
Ford:
Ford is investing 1.5 billion in two Michigan assembly plants near Wayne and is planning to add 2,700 to create Bronco sports utility vehicles. This has been in the planning stage for some time, it appears. In 2019 Joe Hinrich of global ops was quoted by CNBC that the “production center will be used to upgrade the interiors.” They have been planning a factory in Flat Rock for the 2023 model.
Meanwhile the car factory at Dearborn, which manufactures pickup trucks, will alter F-150 trucks to an electric version and is looking to add 300 jobs.
Mazda and Toyota!?!
Mazda and Toyota got together to build a factory in Alabama, making the Toyota Corolla and as yet unnamed Mazda model. Previously the only Corollas were built in Mississippi. Again, they are looking at electric vehicle technology.
It is a difficult time, but it does seem that some factories are making effort to recruit in order to create new models, and a crazy new trend is different brands working together.
Update: New microfactory announced for South Carolina…
The Kicker Blog 