Automotive

Running on All Cylinders

Before 1993, the automotive industry in Alabama was nonexistent. That year, Mercedes-Benz decided to build its first passenger vehicle factory outside of Germany. Since then, international car makers, Honda and Hyundai, chose sites in Alabama, spending close to $2 billion each to build their respective vehicle and engine manufacturing facilities. In 2016, output at Alabama assembly plants operated by Mercedes, Honda, and Hyundai exceeded over a million with ten models of passenger vehicles, which represents one-fourth of all vehicles built in the south.

The needle keeps moving higher for the automotive industry in Alabama. Together, Mercedes, Honda and Hyundai have produced more than 8 million vehicles in Alabama since 1997. As a result, numerous automotive suppliers have decided to build facilities to support Alabama’s booming automotive industry. Their expanding operations have attracted a vast constellation of parts suppliers with factories located throughout the state, expanding the depth and capabilities of this critically important sector of Alabama’s economy.