The world's largest commercial vehicle producer DaimlerChrysler has selected North Charleston, SC as the site for its new Dodge Sprinter van assembly plant.

DaimlerChrysler will initially invest $35 million and employ 220 when the plant produces its first van in the final quarter of 2006. This is part one of a three-phase plan by the company that upon culmination could create 1,800 jobs and $435 million in investment. Employment levels at the company's current location in Gaffney will not be affected by this announcement.

This announcement builds on South Carolina's continued economic development successes of the last two years. The past year was the best year for the state since 1991 for recruiting jobs from new companies and it was the second-best year for total capital investment. The average wage for the jobs that the SC Department of Commerce recruited in 2004 was 31% higher than the per capita income in South Carolina. The state is on track for another banner year in terms of job-creation and capital investment, a fact further solidified by today's announcement.

"We've said from day one that targeting and growing our state's automotive sector is one of this administration's top economic development priorities," said Gov. Mark Sanford. "Like ICAR in Greenville, this is another major step forward on that front. With the Department of Commerce, we're going to keep working to accelerate the pace of growth in our economy by continuing to bring quality companies and jobs home to South Carolina."

To meet the strong demand for Sprinter vans in North American markets, DaimlerChrysler will adapt an existing facility to assemble the new vehicles. The facility is located at Ladson, just a few miles north of Charleston, on the site of a subsidiary belonging to DaimlerChrysler's Freightliner LLC. The next-generation vehicles produced in South Carolina will replace the current Sprinter model in early 2007. Since 2001, the Sprinter has been on sale in the USA under the Freightliner and Dodge brands.

A comprehensive logistics study, conducted by DaimlerChrysler's Commercial Vehicles Division, found Ladson to have a clear strategic manufacturing advantage.

"We have ambitious, long-term plans for the van market in North America," said Dr. Rolf Bartke, head of DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes-Benz vans business unit. "The Ladson location will provide an immediate increase in annual output to 32,000 units as a first step toward reacting to market demand, and we intend further factory expansion depending on the market development in the US and Canada."

Bartke pointed to the hands-on involvement by state officials and easy access to the Port of Charleston as major reasons why South Carolina was the winner of an extremely competitive site selection process. The advantageous location of the Ladson facility will reduce in-process time for Sprinter vans since the kits from which the vehicles are built land directly at the Port of Charleston after shipping from Europe.

"Our company was tirelessly pursued by South Carolina's leaders, which helped to make the state a clear winner in our site selection process," Bartke said. "Governor Mark Sanford along with Commerce Secretary Bob Faith and his hardworking team at the South Carolina Department of Commerce pursued our company with diligence and determination to bring our jobs to their state.

Recognizing how critical relationships are in business, Governor Sanford and Secretary Faith made every effort to build relationships with senior leaders in our company and to communicate that South Carolina wanted to be a partner in our success."

"Recruiting world-class companies like DaimlerChrysler is part of our long-term economic development strategy for bettering the lives of our citizens," said Commerce Secretary Bob Faith. "We knew that South Carolina had exactly what Daimler Chrysler needed'a highly efficient port and a workforce well equipped for automotive success. We also knew that we could provide the best overall value to the company. We were extremel