It's all about flexibility for Alabama automakers
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Lamar Whitaker (left), Jason Pickering and Gabrielle Coppola talk during the OEM panel at SAC 2025. Photo: Derek Lacey/Axios
Automotive manufacturing is a huge part of Alabama's economy — it's the state's top export, supports more than 50,000 jobs and drives billions in investment.
Why it matters: Big Alabama automakers talked workforce concerns, tariffs, AI and EVs at the Southern Automotive Conference in Huntsville this week.
- The gist: Flexibility is key as automakers seek to retain workers and adapt to an evolving industry.
Catch up quick: Mazda Toyota Manufacturing, which employs around 4,000 in its Huntsville plant, hasn't had a problem recruiting and hiring people, says David Fernandes, senior vice president.
- "It's a bigger challenge to retain those folks," he said. "It's figuring a way to create … more flexibility for employees."
- At the Huntsville facility, the two-shift, day-night pattern switches every 30 days, so "it's hard to get really creative with that kind of shift pattern," Fernandes said.
Honda used the same two-shift pattern for 20 years until feedback from employees led them to change it to a fixed schedule, said Lamar Whitaker, vice president and plant lead at the Honda Alabama Auto Plant in Lincoln.
- Flexibility for a better work-life balance "is going to be huge for getting people back into the workforce" as Baby Boomers and Gen X-ers continue to retire, said Jason Pickering, vice president of operations for Polaris in Madison.
Zoom in: While worries abound about the impact AI will have on white- and blue-collar jobs, Alabama's automotive OEMs see it as a tool, not a threat.
- "I don't see AI replacing a manufacturing job," Pickering said. "I think it could act like a force multiplier. … it's really not about eliminating the job, it's about eliminating the hard part of the task."
- Mercedes-Benz has started using AI for supply chain planning, said Frederico Kochlowski, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz U.S. International.
Context: With the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2020, local manufacturers have focused on domestic supply chains and manufacturing for domestic sales.
- That's also paid off as tariff uncertainty has muddied market waters.
Case in point: "We have constructed a robust supply chain in North America ... that has allowed us to shift production between our sites [to] still meet customer demand without passing on the cost of tariffs to our customers," said Whitaker.
Driving the news: The recent end of federal subsidies for electric vehicles is raising questions about the future of EV demand.
- Hyundai isn't backing off EVs, said Shane Nice, chief quality officer and director of quality for Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama.
- He said that part of Hyundai's $26 billion U.S. investment will help keep its plants flexible for EV production, and "make Hyundai more flexible based on consumer demand."
What they're saying: "We still feel the future of personal mobility is electrification, and we are taking steps to increase our EV production capacity in the United States," Whitaker said.