Bridgeport, Conn., was once a center for manufacturing, including automobile assembly, and Britain’s oldest continuously operated automobile manufacturer hopes to revive that heritage, while at the same time find its own place in the U.S. market.
AC Cars Manufacturing (USA) Inc., a subsidiary of AC Cars, will build its first U.S. automobile assembly plant in Bridgeport, Conn., where it will assemble the Ace, MKVI and Mamba models. The new plant will build cars that sell for between $90,000 and $150,000.
The company expects to build about 50 cars in the first year and increase production to 700 to 800 cars annually after five years, said Alan Lubinsky, president and chairman of AC Cars.
The expansion is part of AC Cars’ strategy to boost its U.S. sales. The company, which has sold cars in the United States sporadically in recent years, has been impressed by the success of BMW’s Mini Cooper and believes the time is ripe for niche cars, Lubinsky said.
“We’re looking very much at America as a prime market,” he said. “That’s what we’re going to concentrate on.”
AC Cars will locate the plant in a 40,000 square foot facility on the site where one of the first automobiles in the United States was manufactured in 1895, and it will create more than 140 jobs. The company expects to spend $4.5 million on the project.
The company chose Bridgeport because of the skilled labor pool and the presence of many tool and die making shops that can supply automobile parts, Lubinsky said.
He added that the city’s rich industrial history was also a draw.
“We want to be a part of the revival of this urban city as an industrial city,” Lubinsky said. “The skills are all there, and there’s no reason Bridgeport can’t become what it once was. We look forward to being a part of Bridgeport’s economic resurgence, and we see a tremendous opportunity for growth and success in the years ahead.”
As part of the agreement, the state of Connecticut will loan AC Cars $1.5 million, at 1 percent interest, over 10 years in exchange for the company’s pledge to create the jobs by 2011.
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