The News &Observer
RALEIGH, N.C. – Volvo Car Corp. announced Monday that it plans to invest $500 million to build a new plant in the United States, and multiple reports have said North Carolina is among several southeastern states in the running.
Volvo’s announcement didn’t mention any specific locations, saying it has “drawn up a short list of potential locations and full details of the location of the new factory and the size of the investment will be announced at a later date.”
The Financial Times and several other news outlets reported in January that the company was in talks with North Carolina, South Carolina and Kentucky.
The automaker is now moving quickly. The company’s CEO, Håkan Samuelsson, told The Wall Street Journal that the location will be announced in about a month. Volvo is owned by China-based Geely Holding Group.
That statement is likely to add urgency to the incentives debate in North Carolina. The stat’s House and Senate have each developed competing jobs bills that would both add funding to the state’s main incentive fund, Job Development Investment Grants, which is out of money.
The Senate wants the plan to include lower corporate taxes for all companies, which the House plan includes tax credits for jet fuel and technology data centers.
Commerce Secretary John Skvarla has said the division “doesn’t indicate that North Carolina has its act together.”
North Carolina has assembled three “megasites” that state officials are offering to automakers. Reports have also indicated that Land Rover is also considering the state.
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