Despite rampant speculation that Volkswagen favors a site in Alabama for a proposed new assembly plant, sites in Tennessee and Michigan are still in the running, the German automaker said Monday.
Deflecting a report in the German magazine Automobilwoche (Automobile Week) that unidentified VW officials have said the Alabama site is the front-runner, Volkswagen spokeswoman Jill Bratina in Washington, D.C., said the company "continues to evaluate sites" in three states.
"The decision will be made in mid-July," she said.
Internally, though, a choice could be made as early as today, even if it isn't announced to the public.
The automaker's management board is scheduled to meet to hear a staff recommendation about whether to build a U.S. plant, and where to locate it if Volkswagen decides to go ahead with the facility.
The management board's decision would have to be ratified by the company's supervisory board, which is expected to make a decision when it meets July 15.
Tennessee economic-development officials on Monday declined to comment on speculation of Alabama being considered the favorite, but they did say the state remains under consideration for the facility.
Cost of the plant is expected to be about $1 billion, and it could employ up to 2,500 people to assemble new compact and midsize VW sedans and possibly a compact SUV.
Although Michigan officially remains a contender, with a site in the Detroit area, Volkswagen officials are believed to be seriously studying two TVA-certified automotive "megasites" for the plant, one in Chattanooga and the other along Interstate 65 just south of Athens, Ala.
The Alabama site is close enough to the Tennessee border that it could employ some workers willing to drive a half-hour or more into Alabama.
Earlier this year, some auto analysts said Alabama could have the edge because it is home to German automaker Mercedes-Benz's only U.S. plant, near Tuscaloosa, and recently enticed German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp to build a $3.7 billion mill near Mobile.
The state also is home to numerous German auto suppliers that provide components to the Mercedes plant and could supply some parts to Volkswagen. European publications also have said that VW might consider Chattanooga for an engine plant if the auto assembly facility goes to Alabama.
Volkswagen officials, however, have not publicly mentioned the possibility of a separate engine plant.
But an engine plant in Chattanooga, less than three hours from an assembly plant in Alabama, would be close enough to facilitate a modern just-in-time auto assembly operation, in which major components are delivered to the production line as needed, rather than being stockpiled at the assembly plant.
Nissan follows a similar procedure with its Decherd, Tenn., engine plant, which manufactures all the engines used in vehicles produced by the Japanese automaker's two U.S. assembly plants, in Smyrna, Tenn., and Canton, Miss.
The proposed Chattanooga site, the Enterprise South Industrial Park, came in second last year when the Japanese automaker Toyota chose Tupelo, Miss., for its newest U.S. assembly plant.
Worker pool won outThe main reason Toyota chose Tupelo was the availability of manufacturing workers who had recently been laid off by furniture plants in that part of northern Mississippi.
Enterprise South is considered to be a good location for an auto plant in part because it has a dedicated interchange connecting it to nearby Interstate 75, a major north-south route connecting Atlanta and Detroit; and because it has two rail lines already on the property, Norfolk Southern and CSX.
The Alabama site, in Limestone County northwest of Huntsville, has no direct rail service or interstate exchanges now, but a Norfolk Southern line runs just west of the site, and CSX has tracks just to the east.
Interstate 65 runs along the eastern border of the property, and an interchange would be built to serve the site, Alabama officials have said.
Alabama has had good luck attracting auto industry jobs in recent years. Besides Mercedes, Alabama also is home to Honda and Hyundai auto assembly plants.
In addition to the Nissan plant, Tennessee has a General Motors assembly facility in Spring Hill. Suppliers to both of those Middle Tennessee plants could benefit from a Volkswagen assembly plant nearby, whether it ends up in Chattanooga or northern Alabama, state officials have said.
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