A New US Auto Company Heading To Louisiana - Former GM Plant

These are the stories that I love to write about. T. Boone Pickens has thrown his considerable financial backing behind a new automotive manufacturer that will occupy an existing GM plant in Monroe, Louisiana. The start up company promises quality, environmentally friendly vehicles to fill a void in the current US marketplace.

What is unclear is whether the cars will be hybrids or electrics or the Pickens favorite, CNG. Look for production to begin in about 15 months. We can't wait.

From Automotive News:

A new auto company backed by Texas billionaire investor T. Boone Pickens and staffed by former Mazda design chief Tom Matano plans to build "environmentally friendly" vehicles in Louisiana. V-Vehicle Co., of San Diego, will bring about 1,400 workers to a Monroe plant that once belonged to General Motors, according to a statement today from the Louisiana Economic Development Web site. The workers will be paid an annual salary of $40,000. Founder and CEO Frank Varasano said production could begin in 15 months. "VVC will produce a high-quality, environmentally friendly and fuel-efficient car for the U.S. market," the statement said. "The goal of the company is to provide the American buyer greater product value and a superior automotive experience."

State and local officials assembled an incentive package worth about $67 million, which will expand and revamp the factory.

Private sector investors also include the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers and James Davison, of Ruston, La. Davison is the owner of the plant, most recently operated by auto lighting supplier Guide Corp. before its demise.

Pickens has been actively promoting his own energy plan that would invest in wind power and natural gas. (See link to his plan at right.)

Other players

Ray Lane, a managing partner at Kleiner Perkins, will be the VVC's chairman. John Doerr, another Kleiner Perkins managing partner, will be a board member.

Varasano is a former executive vice president with Oracle Corp. who spent 26 years at the Booz Allen Hamilton consulting firm. Several Web profiles list his age as 63.

Horst Metz, who worked for 20 years at Booz Allen after a decade "in industry," will be vice president of assembly operations.Matano, 61, led the design of the legendary Miata roadster and influenced two generations of products in his 19-year career at Mazda Motor Corp.

He left the Japanese automaker in 2002 to become director of industrial design at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Its Web site lists him as the executive director today.

A Twitter chronicle of today's announcement at the plant, posted by The News-Star of Monroe, quoted Matano saying "this car will be another icon of American industry.'' He said details about the vehicle would be released later.

Long roots

Guide Corp. had its roots in an automotive lamp-repair company formed in 1906. It later became GM's Delphi Lighting unit and was spun off in 1998, a year before GM and Delphi Corp. separated.

Production at the Monroe plant ceased in January 2007 as Guide's assets were put up for auction. The company succumbed to global competition, legacy costs and a lack of funding to develop capital-intensive modern lighting systems.

The 425,000-square-foot plant currently occupies 189 acres of land; the project will expand it to about 750,000 square feet.

Louisiana State University estimates that the 1,400 direct, new on-site jobs will create 1,800 indirect jobs for a total of 3,200 new jobs in the state.

The U.S. Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration is expected to contribute as much as $5 million for rail and infrastructure improvements. VVC also has applied for engineering and manufacturing loans under the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program.