Birmingham, AL – Alabama is poised to make a move into the top ranks of car manufacturing in the United States.
The state's annual auto production is expected to near 900,000 in the next few years, which could push Alabama into the top three auto-making states in the country.
Alabama is currently ranked No. 5 nationally. But the state will get a capacity boost with planned expansions at the plants operated by Mercedes-Benz and Honda, and Hyundai already has surpassed the capacity at its Montgomery factory this year.
The increases are a big change from two years ago, when Alabama's auto production sank to less than 468,000 during a global industry downturn.
The state didn't have a substantial automotive industry before 1997, when Mercedes-Benz began making sport-utility vehicles in Tuscaloosa County.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)