A California-based Chinese electric vehicle startup is retooling a Mishawaka factory and hopes to conduct test runs for two lines of SUVs by the end of the year.
State officials say SF Motors, a Silicon Valley-based subsidiary of Chongqing Sokon Industry Group, plans to hire back some workers who were out of a job when AM General halted operations at the plant last year.
Gov. Eric Holcomb (R-Indiana) joined SF Motors officials Wednesday at the factory.
The plant is scheduled to start rolling out new vehicles by the end of the year. The company has pledged to hire 467 workers and spend $160 million on the facility.
Holcomb says state officials are glad SF Motors came to Indiana.
"We fully understood that there were a lot of options for SF Motors, but they chose, and we think they chose wisely," Holcomb says. "And we're going to make sure they're proud of that decision for the years to come."
To secure the deal, the state of Indiana is offering the company $3.8 million in tax credits and up to $500,000 for worker training.
SF Motors CEO John Zhang said they're looking forward to producing cars in Mishawaka.
"Today the world is entering a new era to meet that demand of this innovative generation we have given this plant a new mission to produce premium, intelligent electric vehicles for our customers," Zhang says.
Plant manager Todd Leahy says bringing something new into the Mishawaka plant is familiar.
"We're all very excited. This plant has a long history of launching three different products out of this facility," he says. "So we're well versed in launching new products and building quality products here."
About 80 workers are re-tooling the plant so electric vehicles can be made there. Most of them are former AM General employees. SF Motors has plans to re-hire more of the workers who were laid off when AM General's contract with Mercedes-Benz ended last June.
"We're really excited to be on the ground floor of this opportunity and take place in this start-up venture," Leahy says.
