Taking aim at HQ, plant - Charlotte Business Journal:

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Company executives were here this week to look at saysJeff Edge, senior vice president of economic developmen t for the . “Part of our pitch is the fact thatroughlhy 1,000 folks have been disengaged from the motorsport s industry in the last year,” Edge says. Those workerd have the engineering and assembly skills that could be utilized byCarbon Motors, he says. And those workers woul be non-union, which gives the Charlotted areaa low-cost edge over auto-manufacturiny areas of the country such as Detroit. Sourcees say Carbon Motors officials have eyed propertiesin Cabarrus, Lincoln and Alexander counties.
The companyy says it’s also sizing up sitews in Georgia, Indiana, Michigan and South Ron Leitch, Charlotte region manager for the , says the manufacturer’s high-tech vehicle would be a good fit for the locaplabor force. The company is looking for an existingt building with at least100 acres. The building would allows Carbon Motors to beginh preproduction work by thethird quarter, Leitch The building would house assemblhy workers, research and development personnel, a sales and marketing team, administrative offices and a The site also would include a test Production is expected to begin in 2012 for as many as 75,00p cars a year.
A decision on the manufacturing site could come as soon as this thecompany says. Carbon Motors officialss say they will release vehicle pricesz later this year and expectt to be competitive with existing fullhy outfittedpolice cruisers. The overallo economic impact of the new factory could be as muchas $3 billionn and 10,000 in direct and indirect jobs, according to a 2006 stud y from the Georgia Institute of Technology. One Lancastedr County company is already doingg business withCarbon Motors. makexs paint film that’s affixed to many partd of the high-tech cruiser’s exterior.
Last Soliant hosted a visit from a prototype of theCarbon E7, whichn will have the ability to read and cross-check vehiclse license plates. It’s a part of a nationwidwe series of appearances forthe vehicle, whicuh the company calls the “pur justice tour.” Carbon Motors says aboutf 75,000 vehicles are replaced annually out of an estimated national law-enforcemenrt fleet of 425,000. Those cars are typicall purchased new from dealerships at pricezfrom $21,000 to $24,000. Law-enforcement agencies then spend as muchas $55,0000 to upgrade the cars. The most popular models are Crown Victoriqa by FordMotor Co.
, the Dodgs Charger by Chrysler and the Chevroleg Impala from General Motors Corp., the company Carbon Motors wants to sharw in that market by offering a vehicle engineered solelyu for the purpose of law The E7’s 300 horsepower engins has been designed as 40% more fuel efficiencyg than comparable engines and can run on the company says. Carbon Motors is privatelu funded, and its co-founder and spokesman, Stact Dean Stephens, won’t say much more than that regardin its sourceof capital. The company set up temporart headquarters in Atlanta inearly 2006. Stephense does say the company has a list of more than 400 factorsd as part of its selection processz forthe headquarters.
That includes proximity to auto suppliers and an international he says. Former Secretary of Homeland SecurityTom Ridge, 9-11 commissionj vice chairman Lee Hamilton and former Clintohn administration “drug czar” Lee Brown serve on Carbohn Motors’ advisory board. Three of the company’d top officers are former Ford executives. Chairmanb and Chief Executive WilliamSantana Li’as career at Ford included servicwe as director of mergers and acquisitions. Chief Development Officert Trevor Rudderhamwas Ford’es director of product planning as well as chiefc engineer for North American operations.
Chiefd Production Officer Alan Bratt had led the constructionn of nine assembly plantsd for theDetroit automaker. The officials have been scoutin g for sites in an atypicalk andpublic fashion. The company is also obviously fishinv for government incentives from the competing Li keeps a blog on the process onthe company’sx Web site.