Norfolk Southern automotive business grows across South Carolina

Norfolk Southern automotive business in South Carolina is picking up pace as the railroad uses its site development expertise, network reach and connectivity to back new moves in the state’s automotive supply chain, as previously covered by Railway Supply.

Late last year, a SODECIA AAPICO joint venture began constructing a $120 million, 400,000-square-foot plant in Orangeburg. The facility is planned for the 380-acre Tri-County Global Industrial Site, a rail-ready site with direct NS service and connections to major transportation corridors. Construction is expected to conclude in 2027, with production pegged to start in March 2028.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

Norfolk Southern automotive business and a rail-ready site in Orangeburg

SODECIA and AAPICO—both family-owned, global automotive manufacturers—are combining capabilities to produce ladder frames in Orangeburg for Scout Motors Inc. Scout Motors, a U.S. subsidiary of German automaker Volkswagen, manufactures electric trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs).

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Company officials said access to an NS REDI Sites Program property helped position the Tri-County Global Industrial Site as a leading candidate for advanced automotive manufacturing, a point also outlined by Norfolk Southern.

South Carolina automotive supply chain investment and EV growth

In an email, Alex Luc, Norfolk Southern group vice president of international intermodal and automotive, said NS has built partnerships with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and supported their growth through long-term investments in rail logistics.

Luc said South Carolina has strengthened its position as a national automotive powerhouse through historic investments, expanding export leadership and robust manufacturing infrastructure—especially in electric vehicles and batteries. Over the next five years, OEMs such as BMW and Scout Motors plan to greatly expand electric vehicle capacity, while South Carolina’s supplier base, workforce systems and energy and tech ecosystems are expected to support further growth in advanced, sustainable automotive manufacturing.

Automotive is a top driver of the state’s economy, supporting about 154,900 jobs and $18.4 billion in gross state product, Luc said. Auto-related manufacturing plants and suppliers account for over half of the jobs. Since 2017, more than $27 billion has been invested in auto-related manufacturing and supply, including $4.3 billion focused on vehicle, electric vehicle (EV) and battery plants in 2023 alone. South Carolina is fourth nationally in regional EV manufacturing employment, and as of mid-2025, EV and battery-related investments in the state totaled $13.3 billion, he said.

Scout Motors, BMW and other projects served by NS

Scout Motors is also building a $2 billion plant in Blythewood that is scheduled to start production in 2027. To be served by NS, the facility is expected to produce about 200,000 electric trucks and SUVs per year, as described by Scout Motors. Luc said the railroad will transport inbound parts and outbound finished vehicles in multilevel rail cars.

Other automotive-related development in South Carolina includes BMW’s $1 billion assembly plant expansion in Spartanburg and a $700 million battery assembly plant in Woodruff that opened in 2022. The Spartanburg plant is BMW’s largest manufacturing facility in the world and assembles the majority of the automaker’s SUVs. BMW also opened a $200 million press shop in Spartanburg in 2024. The automaker relies heavily on NS to move various parts into the Spartanburg plant and transport finished vehicles to destinations that include the Port of Charleston for export.

Beyond those projects, Redwood Materials in late 2022 chose a Charleston site for its $3.5 billion battery recycling plant. In 2023, Mercedes-Benz Vans began producing the eSprinter in North Charleston. Also in 2023, Japan’s Envision AESC, a BMW supplier, announced plans to build a more than $800 million EV battery cell plant in Florence County.

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