Made in America: Alabama produces more than 1 million vehicles in 2015
by January 10, 2016 9:04 am 270 views
Editor’s note: Each Sunday, Talk Business & Politics provides “Made In America,” a round-up of state and global manufacturing news.
ALABAMA PRODUCES MORE THAN 1 MILLION VEHICLES IN 2015: Alabama’s three global automakers combined to produce more than 1 million vehicles in 2015, the first time the state’s annual output has reached that big-league milestone.
Mercedes-Benz, Honda and Hyundai produced a total of at least 1,033,095 vehicles last year, according to the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, a key player in industry growth in the state. The total is up from 2014 when the trio’s production tally fell just shy of 995,000.
COOPER TIRE TO PURCHASE MAJORITY STAKE IN CHINESE MANUFACTURER: Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., which operates a manufacturing plant in Texarkana, announced last week that it has entered into an agreement to purchase a majority of China-based Qingdao Ge Rui Da Rubber Co., Ltd. Cooper will own 65% of the new entity, which will be renamed Cooper Qingdao Tire Co., Ltd. (CQT), for approximately $93 million, including the acquisition and initial investments in the operation. The transaction is expected to close during the first half of 2016 pending certain permits and approvals by the Chinese government.
CQT is expected to serve as a global source of truck and bus radial (TBR) tire production for Cooper including Roadmaster brand tires for the North American market as well as TBR tires for Asia and other markets. Upon closing, CQT will join seven other tire manufacturing facilities in the Cooper family of companies with three U.S. plants in Findlay, Ohio; Texarkana, and Tupelo, Miss., as well as facilities in Kunshan, China; Melksham, England; Krusevac, Serbia and a joint venture plant near Guadalajara, Mexico.
U.S. RAILROAD TRAFFIC DOWN 6.1% IN 2015, DECEMBER RAIL SHIPMENTS DROP 15.1%: Total U.S. carload traffic for 2015 was 14,266,204 carloads, down 6.1% or 911,823 carloads, while intermodal containers and trailers were 13,710,646 units, up 1.6% or 213,432 containers and trailers when compared to the same period in 2014. For 2015, total rail traffic volume in the U.S. was 27,976,850 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.5% or 698,391 carloads and intermodal units from the same point last year.
Carload traffic in December totaled 1,219,443 carloads, down 15.6% or 225,477 carloads from December 2014. U.S. railroads also originated 1,179,907 containers and trailers in December 2015, down 0.7% or 8,502 units from the same month last year. For December 2015, combined U.S. carload and intermodal originations were 2,399,350, down 8.9% or 233,979 carloads and intermodal units from December 2014.