Volvo to open $500mn factory in South Carolina

Chinese-owned automaker Volvo (VOLVB.STO) will begin construction on a US$500 million factory in the US state of South Carolina this year, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing statements from the company and local officials. The factory, Volvo’s first in America, is scheduled to open in 2018. State and local officials offered an incentives package worth US$120 million including funds to develop land near the Port of Charleston. The deal could provide 4,000 direct jobs in South Carolina, where unemployment is falling but is still higher than national rates.