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Byline: Brian Corbett with Alisa Priddle and Drew Winter

In one of the most dramatic changes to the U.S. factory network since the Industrial Revolution introduced mass production and power-driven tools two centuries ago, the auto industry is shifting output to the Southern countryside and away from regions home to generations of assembly line workers.

The relocation of automotive manufacturing is threatening the economic future of East Coast and Midwestern states and creating a whirlwind of investment from Mississippi to South Carolina.

"I refer to it as the 'Manufacturing Revolution,'" says Tony Grande, Tennessee Economic Development Corp. director.

The auto industry is leaving behind logistics nightmares, unions and higher tax and property expenses for centralized locations in right-to-work states where land values are low and government incentives are extraordinary.

Midwestern states - and Canada's Ontario province - are struggling to hold on to an industry that delivered national prominence and a large, well-paid middle class. "The trends are not positive," says Canadian Auto Workers union President Buzz Hargrove.

However, it's North America's East Coast that is getting hit the hardest. A number of auto factories have closed there since the 1980s. General Motors Corp. facilities in Tarrytown (now called Sleepy Hollow), NY; Clark, NJ; and Framingham, MA, are just a few.

There is a chance six more East Coast assembly plants could be shuttered by 2005.

As part of its revitalization plan, Ford Motor Co. will idle its Edison, NJ, plant. GM's Ste. Therese, Que., Canada, facility goes dark this fall, and plants in Linden, NJ, and Baltimore will close in 2005 unless new products are assigned. That's more than 13,000 jobs lost, not including those from the supplier ranks and other spin-off employment.

It could get worse. GM's Wilmington, DE, facility has dodged death a couple of times and currently makes only one vehicle - the slow-selling Saturn L-Series - on one shift. The Chrysler Group's Newark, DE, plant could be a goner, too, if the Auburn Hills, MI-based company needs to cut capacity again.

Meanwhile, the auto industry is flocking southward like migrating birds in the fall. Once known for producing cotton and tobacco, Dixieland today might be better recognized for producing cars and trucks.

# posted by Medical Information : 5:48 AM