SK Innovation, a supplier to Volkswagen’s Chattanooga, Tennessee electric vehicle assembly site, plans to invest $940 million in its northeast Georgia facility.
The latest investment will create another 600 jobs in Commerce, Georgia, according to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. This latest investment is in addition to the $1.67 billion the South Korean battery maker said it planned to spend to develop two manufacturing facilities and create 2,000 jobs. That initial announcement was made last year.
“Georgia is cementing its place as the Southeastern U.S. hub for the electric battery and vehicle market in large part thanks to SK Innovation, and it is exciting to see the growth in demand for these quality products,” Kemp said, as reported by the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
SK Innovation will supply lithium-ion battery cells for VW’s planned electric SUV, coming in 2022.
In March, SK Innovation broke ground on its first manufacturing plant in Jackson County, about 65 miles northeast of Atlanta. The company is slated to break ground on the second facility — a new 430,000-square-foot plant in the Commerce Business Park — this month.
“SK Innovation’s solid partnership with Georgia will allow SK to continue investing in Georgia, the U.S. economy and the U.S. electric vehicle industry,” said SK Innovation CEO Jun Kim.
SK Innovation is part of the SK Group, which employs more than 6,500 people worldwide and supplies batteries to Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai-Kia Motors and Ford Motor Co.
VW’s Chattanooga EV plant is currently under construction and will include a 564,000-square-foot addition to the body shop where Volkswagen will build both internal combustion engine vehicles and EVs on the same assembly line. VW also plans to build a 198,000-square-foot facility adjacent to its factory for the assembly of battery packs to install in its planned SUV.
