International Automakers Expected to Establish the U.S. South as its Territory

Washington DC April 19, 2006; The AIADA newsletter reported that Thomas Klier of the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago and Professor James Rubenstein of Miami University told attendees at a Federal Reserve Bank conference yesterday that the U.S. auto industry appears to be shaping up as a divide between U.S. automakers in the North and International automakers in the South.

Klier and Rubenstein said they expect traditional US. automakers to remain in the Midwest while International automakers will continue to solidify their presence in Southern states, according to Automotive News. Of the nine assembly plants established in the U.S. by International automakers since 1990, seven are in the South.

Klier and Rubenstein added that segments of the auto parts industry are starting to move away from Detroit, but other segments such as auto body parts firmly remain in the Midwest.