Volvo CEO: Mexico considered before choosing S.C. site
Shortly before Gov. Nikki Haley and her top economic official flew to meet the chief executive of South Carolina’s newest automaker on Monday, Volvo’s boss revealed that Mexico was in the mix for the plant that drove into Berkeley County last week.
At least eight automakers in the past two years have opened or announced new plants or expansions in Mexico, which offers lower labor costs and fewer tariffs.
"I think we looked at all alternatives,” Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson told CNBC on Monday. “ But it's also (a) very important factor (that) we have been in (the) U.S. for 60 years. It's a market we believe in. And we have an ambitious plans for this market. So we need (to have) an industrial presence in the U.S.”
A site near Savannah, Ga., — just 125 miles from South Carolina location — also was a finalist for the $500 million plant expected to hire up to 4,000 workers by 2030.
A week after landing the Volvo plant, Haley’s office said the governor and state Commerce Secretary Bobby Hitt had lunch with Sameulsson at the Swedish ambassador’s home in Washington, D.C.
The governor’s office says Haley always likes to make sure she has a strong relationship with the leaders of any company that chooses to locate in South Carolina.
State and local agencies offered $209 million in announced incentives that is expected to grow with price of lower county taxes and worker training provided at technical colleges.
Sameulsson said South Carolina was the best alternative for Volvo’s first North American plant, which will begin producing vehicles by 2018.
“There are various factors: logistics, availability of skilled labor; and we needed a port nearby,” he told CNBC. Also helping was the “very positive business orientation from the (state) administration."
Volvo is trying to gain traction in the United States, where its auto sales slid last year amid growth across the industry. Volvo is remaking all of its models within the next four years, Sameulsson said.
Volvo has not announced the types of cars will be made in South Carolina, but Sameulsson said the Berkeley County plant will not produce vehicles for the Swedish automaker’s Chinese-based parent, Geely.
Despite being bought by Geely from Ford in 2010, Sameulsson said: “Volvo is more Volvo today than earlier, and we are more Scandinavian than we were earlier.”
Staff writer Andrew Shain and The Associated Press contributed.
This story was originally published May 18, 2015 at 1:30 PM with the headline "Volvo CEO: Mexico considered before choosing S.C. site."