Volvo chooses South Carolina for its first US plant

Volvo Cars will build a $500 million plant - its first in the United States - in South Carolina and eventually employ up to 4,000 people there, the company announced on Monday.

The plant is initially expected to make about 100,000 vehicles a year, with the first ones ready in 2018, according to Volvo. It expects to employ about 2,000 people at the Berkeley County plant, about 48 km from the Port of Charleston, over the next decade. That could grow to 4,000 workers eventually.

The state plans to borrow about $150 million to build the site and a new interchange on Interstate 26, South Carolina Commerce Secretary Bobby Hitt said at a news conference at the Governor's Mansion.