Isuzu North America Corporation is establishing a new production base in Greenville County, S.C., to expand its vehicle supply capabilities in anticipation of the electrification of commercial vehicles in North America.
The company announced Wednesday it has purchased a 1,000,000 sq.-ft., facility on more than 200 acres of land it is converting into a state-of-the-art, Isuzu-run, assembly plant. The new assembly plant will introduce a variable-model, variable-volume production system that produces both internal combustion engine vehicles and electric vehicles. Isuzu states it will be the first facility in the Isuzu Group to use a production line without conveyors or pits, a highly-advanced line that maximizes flexibility and scalability.
In addition, the plant’s quality assurance system will automate inspections to eliminate operational errors, ensure traceability of parts, and introduce image inspections and other methods to prevent the leakage of defective products.
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The size of the Greenville plant will enable Isuzu to consolidate all production-related operations — KD storage and processing, parts storage, vehicle production and PIO operations — under one roof, streamlining processes and improving efficiency. The company adds the campus also has sufficient acreage to store all completed trucks at a single site. The plant will give Isuzu direct control over all assembly and logistics operations and will provide Isuzu with the flexibility and speed to meet the demands of a quickly-evolving North American commercial vehicle market, the company says.
“The establishment of an Isuzu-owned and operated production base in the United States reflects both Isuzu’s commitment to, and success in, the North American market,” says Noboru Murakami, president of Isuzu North America Corporation. “The plant will be optimally designed for our needs, streamline our processes, provide us with flexibility to react to changing market conditions, and position us for even greater growth in the North American market.”
Additionally, the plant location is near the region’s main interstate corridor, I-85, which connects Greenville to Atlanta and Charlotte, and to I-26, which connects to the deepest port on the eastern seaboard, the Port of Charleston. Isuzu states it worked closely with state and county officials in its selection of the site. Greenville County, in the Upstate region of South Carolina, is one of the fastest-growing industrial markets in the country and has a readily available labor pool for operations within the plant as well a skilled workforce coming out of nearby colleges. The region already has a large and growing automotive production base that will be further enhanced by Isuzu’s operations, the company says.
Isuzu’s total investment in the plant (including land, building, tooling and equipment) is expected to equal approximately $280 million. The plant will have a production capacity of 50,000 units by 2030 and will initially produce Isuzu N-Series Gas, N-Series Electric, and F-Series Diesel trucks. Initial assembly operations will begin in 2027 and will further expand in 2028, at which time, the plant is expected to employ more than 700 people.
