Hybrid Plant Coming To “Sweet Home Alabama”

Alabama Bay Minette Governor Bob Riley announced Thursday that HK Motors plans to build 300000 hybrid cars a year at a new plant to be built in Bay Minette.

by Jamie Burch

Published: Thu, September 24, 2009 - 1:09 pm CST Last Updated: Thu, September 24, 2009 - 6:11 pm CST

MONTGOMERY, Alabama - A new auto manufacturer, headed by a former Chinese auto executive, wants to build its first assembly plant in Bay Minette.

Governor Bob Riley made the announcement Thursday afternoon at the State Capitol during a news conference streamed live on wkrg.com. Confirming a story News 5 broke on Tuesday, Riley said HK Motors plans to build 300,000 hybrid cars a year. He also said the new plant would create 5,000 hi-tech, green, high paying jobs.

Click play to listen to the news conference.

C.T. Wang, President and CEO of HK Motors, said they chose "Sweet Home Alabama" because the state has a strong work force, with a strong work ethic and good skills.

HK Motors' cars will run on a unique hybrid engine powered by compressed natural gas (CNG), electricity, and gasoline. Production is expected to begin in 2013.

Riley says the hybrid cars produced at the Bay Minette plant will help reduce our dependence on foreign oils, protect the environment and help create a new "green" economy in Alabama.

“It didn’t take long for Alabama to become a leader in the automotive industry. Now as America and the world begin making a historic transition to a green economy, we look to make Alabama a leader in the production of next-generation, clean-tech automobiles,” said Governor Riley. “Our Alabama team, in cooperation with local officials in Baldwin County, has been working with HK Motors for several months on this project. We will continue to work with them as the company puts the financing in place to move forward.”

News 5 first reported this story as BREAKING NEWS on wkrg.com. Keep up with breaking news when you're at work or on the go. Get breaking news updates on twitter or facebook. You can also sign up for News 5 Text Alerts. News 5 can also send breaking news alerts to your e-mail.

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gulfcoastdude Says:

Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 10:01 am

If this does happen it wont be Alabamians getting the jobs, our area will be flooded with laid off workers from other states.

docomp Says:

Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 8:19 pm

Oh Bama Bob come on, its about the jobs. I am going to work there and make LOTS of money so get out of my way!

docomp Says:

Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 8:17 pm

Yes siree! Just tell the economic development board that you want to put in a plant and they will give away your tax dollars and home to get them to agree! Hey what about the raceway? When EADS comes in the French will displace us as new royalty. Yes we will get jobs - cleaning their houses!

docomp Says:

Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 8:14 pm

You can bet that the management will be primarily from the outside (like Thysenkrup), the labor will be imported (like Thysenkrup), our property taxes will go up, more traffic, more crime, and what’s more, the tax incentives will cost Alabama taxpayers tax revenue. We will become second class citizens in our own home town. The politicians have sold part of the store.
I looked at the HK website. It is all about what they claim they will do not what they have done. I will believe it when I se it. I thought we were selling our country to the Chineese and I was wrong - they are buying it!

BamaBob Says:

Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 2:51 pm

Getting a wide reaching delivery infrastructure in place for both electricity and CNG has always been a huge problem in this country. I think 8 dollar gas is the tipping point, if I remember correctly.

Maybe this outfit plans to target India and China as its customer base. Seems like there should be a lot more facts on the table before getting everyone all wired up about this deal.

KxVicious Says:

Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 2:43 pm

Oh and Bama… Volkswagen, Chevy, Fiat already have CNG vehicles on the road.

If this technology was going to work…why isn’t eth Chevy one here instead of Peru??

KxVicious Says:

Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 2:41 pm

Oh wait… It’s CNG??

Where are we supposed to fill the tanks? The dealership I work at had truck (auctioned from Louisana Gas) that could run on both gasoline and CNG, but I called around to find out where to get it filled, and all the natural gas companies informed me that they were unable to fill the tanks.

KxVicious Says:

Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 2:36 pm

Well, dan, do you really think that with TOYOTA, HONDA, CHEVY and FORD making (and having trouble selling) hybrids that you will find people willing to purchase a no-name, reliability-unknown Chinese hybrid?

BamaBob Says:

Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 2:32 pm

I’m sure everyone hopes this is a smart move, but let’s see some numbers. How many private dollars vs. tax payer dollars?

Is there not one single prototype of this new technology? Where is the potential market? What kind of delivery system has to be in place to make CNG a practical alternative fuel?

dan Says:

Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 2:18 pm

KX look deeper before you pass judgement buddy. http://www.hkmotors.com shows the whole plan. Stop looking for negative and hope that these guys get their investments and we have the first ecofriendly vehicle production facility here in LA!

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