State's automotive industry payroll tops $5 billion
BYLINE: Cindy F. Crawford
Employment surrounding the automotive industry in Alabama rose 8 percent last year and generated payroll of $5.2 billion in 2007, the Alabama Automotive Manufacturers Association said Thursday.
In a 2007 industry survey conducted for AAMA by researchers from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, the state's 285 plants reported employment of 48,457 in 2007, which is an 8 percent increase over the 44,834 in 2005. The automotive industry supported 134,226 direct and indirect jobs that generated a payroll of $5.2 billion in 2007.
"The automotive industry has now become a major and vital part of our state's economy," Gov. Bob Riley said.
Since the first AAMA study was conducted in 2001, Alabama's auto industry has added 21,545 jobs, an 80 percent increase, the association said.
Recent plant announcements, including a Kia plant just over the Alabama-Georgia border, and expansions in the industry will continue to boost the economy in the next few years, Riley said.
Twenty-four new automotive-related plants opened in Alabama in 2006 and 2007, reporting 1,146 new jobs. An additional 24 plants that are new to the industry or new to the survey reported 812 jobs.
The state's three assembly plants, Honda Manufacturing of Alabama, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama and Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, employ more than 11,000 people.