Over the past two decades, the southern United States has emerged as the new region for the automobile manufacturing industry. While General Motors, Ford and Chrysler retreat from their Midwest base, foreign manufacturers have built or expanded new plants in South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana and elsewhere. However, a new manufacturer will soon begin to build cars in Louisiana, but unlike the most recent trend, this company will be of the homegrown variety.
Introducing VVC
V-Vehicle Company (VVC) announced last week that they had reached an agreement with the state of Louisiana as well as Monroe area government, to launch establish a manufacturing plant in the Bayou State. The company has plans to build an all new fuel efficient model and employ as many as 1400 workers at its proposed facility. Many hundred more people will be employed nearby with the potential for thousands of additional jobs to crop up as a result of economic activity.
Not much is known about VVC nor about the model being proposed, but the company is believed to be a midsize model and the designer is Tom Matano, the same person who designed the highly acclaimed Mazda Miata roadster. VVC representatives have said that they are keeping the model’s details secret for now so as not to tip off the competition.
What is known about the VVC model is that the company plans a design that will endure, much like the Miata which has remained popular for the past twenty years despite not having changed all that much. The company believes that cars with too radical of a design have a limited appeal, quickly falling out of favor with car buyers. When that happens, then a costly redesign is in order, something that VVC believes it can avoid.
Second Car Plant For Monroe
With Monroe selected as the location for the VVC facility, the city will soon have two automobile manufacturing plants, with GM’s Hummer plant being the other one. Despite Hummer being sold to a Chinese manufacturer, the new company plans to keep building SUVs in Monroe consolidating South African production to the Louisiana plant.
The decision to launch an all new car company in the US comes after the company initially considered building its first model in China. VVC realized that they had a good opportunity to build the car in the US, choosing the state of Louisiana thanks to tax breaks and other incentives offered by government officials.
If all goes according to plan, production at the VVC will commence in eighteen months, yielding a 2011 model for the American car buying public.
Matthew C. Keegan is a freelance writer who resides in North Carolina. Matt is a contributing writer for Andy’s Auto Sport an aftermarket supplier of quality parts including Dodge Neon headlights and Mitsubishi Eclipse headlights.