North Carolina will not be landing the highly sought-after Toyota-Mazda joint auto manufacturing plant.
The decision is expected to be made public on Wednesday. The News & Observer learned of the decision through sources familiar with the project.
The Associated Press reports that the plant will be in the Huntsville area in Alabama although the location hasn't been officially announced. Officials in Alabama are expected to hold a news conference Wednesday afternoon to announce the plant site.
Alabama and North Carolina were the apparent finalists for the huge factory, which is expected to begin operating in 2021. It will be able to build 300,000 vehicles per year and will produce the Toyota Corolla compact car for North America and a new small SUV from Mazda, the companies have said.
North Carolina lost out, according to one of the sources, because it "does not have the supply chain logistics that the car companies want."
The plant would have brought a $1.6-billion investment and 4,000 jobs to the state.
Toyota officials did not immediately return calls for comment. The N.C. Department of Commerce declined to comment.
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