Alabama auto exports span the globe to set record
Author Dawn Kent Azok
February 23, 2016
From the Far East to the Arabian Desert, Alabama-built vehicles continue to make their mark across the globe.
The value of Alabama auto exports topped $7 billion last year, a record annual total and a 5.8 percent gain from 2014. Meanwhile, overseas shipments of Alabama-made motor vehicle parts reached $1.2 billion, an 18 percent increase.
In 2015, China was the top export market for Alabama vehicles, growing nearly 9 percent to $2 billion and knocking Canada out of the top spot, according to trade data from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
For the rest of the story visit Made In Alabama.
Mercedes Boots Robots From the Production Line
By Elisabeth Behrmann and Christoph Rauwald
February 24, 2016 – 11:00 PM CST Updated on February 25, 2016 – 10:07 AM CST
Mercedes-Benz offers the S-Class sedan with a growing array of options such as carbon fiber trim, heated and cooled cupholders and four types of caps for the tire valves, and the carmaker’s robots can’t keep up.
With customization key to wooing modern consumers, the flexibility and dexterity of human workers is reclaiming space on Mercedes’s assembly lines. That bucks a trend that has given machines the upper hand over manpower since legendary U.S. railroad worker John Henry died trying to best a motorized hammer more than a century ago.
For the rest of the story visit Bloomberg Business.
First Alabama-made Airbus moves from production to paint
Made In Alabama Story
February 25, 2016
MOBILE, Alabama – The Airbus assembly facility at Mobile Aeroplex reached another milestone this week when the first Alabama-made jetliner left the production floor at the new $600 million plant and entered the paint shop.
Airbus announced the development at the Alabama facility on Wednesday with a message on Twitter: “1st aircraft now out of production and in paint. Congrats to the team!” An accompanying photo showed a spotted green A321 passenger jet and a throng of workers from the Mobile plant holding a banner saying, “First Airbus Aircraft Proudly Made in the U.S.A.”
For the rest of the story visit Made In Alabama.