Hybrid Automotive Corporation, a startup auto company that will manufacture fuel-efficient vehicles, is moving ahead with plans to build a $6.5 billion factory in Tunica County, Mississippi, that could directly employ 25,000 people at full production. The Associated Press reports that a lawsuit between a potential investor and company CEO Xiaolin "Charles" Wang of China was holding up progress on the deal, but a settlement in the suit will allow the project to move forward. The company's website says the technologies for its vehicles have been developed in Germany but does not name the companies involved; AP says the company website will be shut down in August and a new one will be created as a condition of the legal settlement. Mississippi economic development officials are declining to discuss the project, citing a need for confidentiality. In a statement quoted by AP, the company says, "We are satisfied to put this lawsuit behind us. We will continue working closely with Mississippi state government, Tunica County, and Gulf Coast Funds Management to make our automotive project a great success." Bill Brabec, the company's attorney in Mississippi, tells AP that a site plan has been prepared and the company hopes to break ground in 2011; the county has secured an option to purchase the land.
