At least, they used to be boxy, and that’s the way I still think of them. Lately, I’ve seen some Volvos that I could hardly tell from other cars, and they just don’t have the same cachet.
Here’s hoping they make some boxy ones here in SC:
Volvo announced Monday that it will build a $500 million factory in Berkeley County to produce 100,000 cars a year.
Construction on the Swedish automaker’s first U.S. plant will start this fall with the first cars produced in 2018. The South Carolina plant will add to four Volvo factories in Europe and China, where the automaker’s parent company is based.
Volvo usually makes two models of vehicles at its plants, company spokesman Jim Nichols said. but the automaker has not decided which models will be built in South Carolina.
Volvo could employ up to 2,000 workers in the decade after the plant opens and another 2,000 by 2030, the S.C. Department of Commerce said. The state employs 46,000 automotive-industry workers, including at hundreds of suppliers, according to the S.C. Automotive Council….
I only have one concern: These things last forever. My wife’s still driving the 1998 model she inherited from her Dad, and it’s going strong. How many of these cars are we going to be able to sell if they never break down?
But I kid. I’m a kidder. First BMW, then Boeing, now this. I love the image of South Carolina as a place that builds high-quality rides…
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Except that Volvo stopped being good about the time it stopped being boxy.
Here’s Speaker Jay Lucas’ statement on the news:
And this is from Lindsey Graham:
Everybody’s getting on the Haley bandwagon. Should we change the constitution to allow her to run for a third term? or just make her Governor for life?
When you’re the Khaleesi, you don’t HAVE to run for re-election…
And here’s a different viewpoint on the news:
Dang, y’all — there was something funky going on with the justification of the text of that release, and I had to go in and fix it, line-by-line, to make it readable.
Work, work, work, work, work, work, work… Harrumph, harrumph, harrumph…
As long as our elected officials are willing to shovel corporate welfare at companies who seek low wages above anything else we’ll attract these companies. So far it hasn’t done much to improve our standing among the 50 states in terms of unemployment (6.7% vs 5.5% nationally) or per capita income (42nd).
http://www.bls.gov/regions/southeast/south_carolina.htm#eag
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_income
Joe Wilson’s glad they’re here, too:
BMW builds about 400,000 cars per year in Greer (or will next year). With 8,000 employees.
Volvo sells about 55,000 cars in North America, and 465,000 total across the world. Volvo employs 25,000 people – globally.
Either the politicians are trumpeting unrealistic jobs projections, or the car company is unrealistic in its sales targets. Anyway, I can’t believe news outlets would parrott the 4,000 jobs number if – even in the best case – it happens AFTER 2030. Even the 2,000 Volvo says seems like a stretch number for this plant.
I’m driving the 1997 Volvo I inherited from my mom, and it, too, is still going strong. My teenage son will be driving it to school starting in August, so we’ll just see how indestructible it really is.