By Assocated Press
Birmingham, AL – Isuzu Motors is planning to begin construction of an assembly plant in Pinson this year to make commercial trucks, according to newspaper reports.
The Birmingham News reported Monday that a source close to the recruitment of the Japan-based company said Isuzu is working out details of its plan.
The paper says Japan's biggest maker of light-duty trucks signed a preliminary agreement with state officials several weeks ago.
It reported in January that Isuzu bought the vacant 300,000- square-foot Del Monte Corporation distribution center in Pinson Valley for almost $8 (m) million.
The plant would create hundreds of jobs, and be the fourth vehicle factory built in Alabama by an overseas auto maker.
Aggressive recruiting efforts by state officials, tax incentives and a largely non-union work force have lured Mercedes- Benz, Honda and Hyundai Motor Company to Alabama since the mid-1990s.
That's created 50,000 jobs at their plants and those operated by parts suppliers.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)