Along the side-lines of the unveiling of the new-generation Volvo S60 sedan, the company also inaugurated its first ever manufacturing facility in USA in the city of Charleston, South Carolina. Volvo already has two manufacturing plants and an engine plant in Europe along with three car factories and an engine plant in China and finally, assembly plants in India and Malaysia. At present, the Charleston plant will be manufacturing only the new S60 sedan which is built on the company's SPA or scalable product architecture platform. The manufacturing will begin in late 2018. Volvo says that the Charleston plant will also be manufacturing the XC90, which is the flagship Volvo SUV from 2021 onwards. The cars built at the plant will be sold in USA and will also be exported globally. The plant has an annual manufacturing capacity of 150,000 cars per year.
(Volvo will be spending a total of $ 1.1 billion on its new US plant)Also Read: 2019 Volvo S60 Sedan Revealed In USA
"The Charleston plant establishes the US as our third home market," said Hakan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo Cars. "The sedan segment and the SPA platform's proven ability to boost profitability offer significant growth opportunities for Volvo Cars in the US and globally."
(Volvo says that the new plant will create around 4,000 jobs in the area)The total investment from Volvo in this plant will be $ 1.1 billion and the company will be creating approximately 4,000 jobs in the years to follow. Volvo will already be hiring a staff of 1,500 by the end of this year. The new Charleston facility includes an office building for up to staff of 300 people from research and development, purchasing, quality and sales. The site occupies 1,600 acres and the building space covers 2.3 million square feet.
