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Kia Country of Charleston Celebrates 20th Anniversary
Kia Country of Charleston celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Located on Savannah Highway in West Ashley, Kia Country will mark the milestone with customer promotions, contests, and a spring anniversary event. Kia Country’s many accomplishments include being named Dealer Rater’s South Carolina Dealer of the Year, 7 ou[...]
Bosch investing $260M in North Charleston expansion
Bosch Charleston started producing electric motors this month. But the company needs more space and more people. So Bosch announced today that it will invest more than $260 million to further expand production of electrification products at the North Charleston facility, which the company calls Bosch Charleston, an investment th[...]
Volvo Cars seeks to invest in supplier plants as it readies for new model
Volvo Cars USA’s bid for tax breaks for some Upstate investments is part of the company’s efforts to prepare its Ridgeville plant for building its new and fully electric flagship SUV. Volvo CEO Jim Rowan says the EX90 ushers in a new era for safety for Volvo drivers and passengers. “Born electric, born with lid[...]
Ingevity Corp. spends $385M, buys dual companies and invests in another
Ingevity Corp. of North Charleston has had a busy week already. The company on Tuesday announced it is buying two companies in a $325 million cash transaction and investing $60 million to acquire an equity stake in another. In addition, the company announced record net sales of $419.9 million in its second-quarter report,[...]
Auto sector changed SC’s economic landscape 30 years ago
When Harry Lightsey took the stage at the S.C. Automotive Summit in early March, the South Carolina Secretary of Commerce understood the room. Before being named the top economic developer for South Carolina, Lightsey worked for years in the automotive sector, directing General Motors Corp.’s federal affairs op[...]
Axel Bense takes the wheel of S.C. auto plant
Former lead of Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Thailand and Mercedes-Benz Rus Axel Bense will succeed Arnhelm Mittelbach as CEO and president of the company’s North Charleston plant on April 1. Mittelbach, who has served at the helm of South Carolina’s Mercedes-Benz Vans plant since 2019, will take on a new position[...]
Suppliers get face-time with BMW, Honda SC, Volvo and more
The opportunity to have a face-to-face sit down with a company, and have the business welcome the conversation, is what drove small-time suppliers to the 2022 S.C. Automotive Summit’s B2B Supplier Matchmaker program March 1. Like speed dating between suppliers and original equipment manufacturers, the matchmaking program i[...]
Baker Motor Co. launches luxury rental division
Charleston-area luxury car brand Baker Motor Co. is expanding operations to offer a new product in the market, the company said in a news release. Baker Automotive Rentals will provide a series of luxury commercial vans, pickup trucks and luxury passenger vehicles for rent in the Lowcountry, the company said. &ldq[...]
Volvo readies for next stage in Ridgeville
Volvo Cars’ Ridgeville plant is ready to ramp up production with a major hiring push, but finding the right talent as the company expands has been an ongoing challenge. When Volvo established its Lowcountry operations in 2015, the company looked to South Carolina as a robust manufacturing economy with experienced laborers. However, with a 3% […]
Matchmaking program connects S.C. suppliers with Tier 1 companies
Small and medium-sized suppliers dream of getting in front of Tier 1 companies and original equipment manufacturers like Boeing, BMW and Volvo. But how does a small business stand a chance for face time when up against the big dogs? Six years ago, the S.C. Department of Commerce and the S.C. Automotive Council joined forces […]
Gerber Collision & Glass acquires 16 John Harris Body Shops
Don’t be surprised if you see new signage in front of John Harris Body Shops. The Boyd Group Inc., which operates in the U.S. under the name Gerber Collision & Glass, has acquired 16 John Harris Body Shops throughout South Carolina and Georgia as of June 30, Boyd Group said in a news release. John […]
Volvo Cars invests $118 million to produce electric car in Ridgeville
Volvo Cars is investing another $118 million into its Ridgeville manufacturing plant, this time to build the fully electric Polestar 3. The battery electric vehicle will be built on Volvo Car Group’s next generation electric architecture, a company news release said. The vehicle is the third scheduled to be [...]
