JACKSON - Not too many years ago, few people would have believed reports that an auto manufacturer was seriously considering building an assembly plant in Mississippi.
But now that the state has its very own Nissan North America Inc. plant - and made the finals for a Toyota and a Hyundai plant last year - rumors have been flying that the state is ripe to get another one.
Could it be true?
U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., said during a recent speech that Kia Motors Corp. is "the next major international auto maker" that will be selecting a site for a new plant.
David Rumbarger, head of the Tupelo Community Development Foundation, said recently that prospects for major investment in his area included Volkswagen, DaimlerChrysler and Ford projects.
And Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, who's running for re-election, has talked lately about joining with Alabama to market a so-called "super site" near Meridian to auto makers.
It's often not easy to track the viability of a rumor.
The governor and economic development executives in Mississippi are notoriously tightlipped about big prospects, even after the deals go to another state.
Here's what some recent checking turned up.
A spokeswoman for Kia, Teppi Wiggington, said the Korean auto maker has no current plants to build a U.S. plant. It doesn't need the capacity.
Auto industry analysts have said that before Kia built its own plant, it would make more sense for Hyundai Motor Co. - which owns 53 percent of Kia - to add an assembly line for Kia at the plant Hyundai is building in Montgomery, Ala.
State Rep. Warner McBride, D-Courtland, whose district has been rumored to have a site that Kia is considering, said, "I haven't heard any good news. I wish I had."
Mike Mullis, a Memphis corporate location consultant who works with Mississippi and 21 other states, said - when asked if Kia was looking for assembly sites - "no comment."
As for the possibility some other auto maker besides Kia is shopping for a plant site, Arkansas's Economic Development Commission Director Jim Pickins says he doesn't expect any more assembly plant projects will come along soon.
Arkansas was a close second to Texas for a Toyota truck plant and is still hoping to interest an automaker in two sites.
"We haven't seen the last of the foreign auto makers," Pickins said. "We have visited with some of the domestics, but until they get out of some of their stringent operating rules (imposed by union contracts), it will be hard for them."
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