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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

GEDIA Automotive Group Plans Manufacturing Plant in Whitfield County, Georgia

07/27/2020
GEDIA Automotive Group, a family-owned Germany-based company that specializes in making state-of-the-art automotive parts, will invest $85 million to build an advanced manufacturing facility at Carbondale Business Park in Whitfield County, Georgia. The company will begin production with a focus on parts for electric vehicles.

GEDIA expects to create 200 jobs in the greater Dalton area at a Georgia Ready for Accelerated Development certified property in Whitfield County. The company will build and occupy a 180,000-square-foot facility on a GRAD Certified property in Carbondale Business Park. This will mark the company’s first site in the Southeast and its second facility in the United States.

"The heart of our plant in Whitfield County will be the hot-forming line with our patented TemperBox, which will allow us to broaden our product range and expand our value chain for a constantly evolving automotive market," said Helmut Hinkel, GEDIA Automotive Group's co-CEO. “The highly innovative GEDIA TemperBox® takes tailored tempering technology to the next level, enabling us to create body components with lower weight and significantly higher crash safety performance while at the same time conserving energy and material.”

GEDIA will use state-of-the-art press hardening, tempering, and automated welding processes to produce parts for electric vehicles, and operations are expected to begin in the third quarter of 2021.

“This project is an essential step into the future for GEDIA, and we are delighted to be taking this step with the State of Georgia. Moving closer to the original equipment manufacturers allows us to serve the American market even better,” said Markus Schaumburg, one of two GEDIA Automotive Group CEOs. “In addition, our new innovative production facility with 200 planned positions not only increases the value of our company, but also contributes to the ongoing development of Whitfield County.”

“We are thrilled to welcome GEDIA to Whitfield County’s industrial park. Our location in the heart of the Southeast automotive manufacturing market will provide a significant advantage for the company. We are excited to add these new great jobs to our community for our citizens,” said Whitfield County Board of Commissioners Chairman Lynn Laughter.

“As we are a national leader in manufacturing, logistics, and workforce training, I’m confident this family-owned business will be very pleased with their decision to join the growing electric vehicle ecosystem here in Georgia,” said Governor Kemp. “Once again, the state’s consistent investment in our Germany-based European office is paying off, and I look forward to seeing the opportunities GEDIA creates for hardworking Georgians in Whitfield County.”

The Georgia Department of Economic Development was represented in this competitive project by Director of International Relations Nico Wijnberg, in partnership with the Georgia Electric Membership Corporation, Whitfield County, and Georgia Quick Start.

“I am thrilled to be here with Markus Schaumburg and his team in Germany today to personally, but with a safe distance, thank him and GEDIA for choosing to build their first Southeastern U.S. facility in Georgia. As they will focus their operations on electric vehicle parts, our state continues its commitment to developing an ecosystem for new mobility and attracting the entire supply chain,” said GDEcD Commissioner Pat Wilson. “I want to commend our community partners in Dalton and Whitfield County for their support of this innovative and strategic industry by investing in a GRAD certified property that undoubtedly was a main driver in GEDIA’s site selection process.”

GEDIA was founded in Germany more than 110 years ago and has been manufacturing products for the automotive industry since 1955. Globally GEDIA currently employs more than 4,300 people in eight production plants (and counting) and is also involved in joint ventures and research companies. With an annual turnover in 2019 of $750 million, the GEDIA Automotive Group develops and produces lightweight body-in-white automotive parts and assemblies, as well as chassis components.

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