Advantage Valley is Driven to Support Automotive Suppliers

Advantage Valley puts automotive manufacturers and suppliers in the heart of the eastern U.S. automotive corridor, within a day’s drive of major assembly operations and key markets. The region combines a skilled manufacturing workforce with ready access to steel, aluminum, polymers and other materials essential to the automotive supply chain.

At the center of the region’s automotive industry is Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia in Buffalo, Toyota’s only combined engine and transmission plant in North America. The facility employs about 2,200 people and represents approximately $3.3 billion in investment. A recently announced $453 million expansion will add 80 jobs and expand production of hybrid-related components beginning in 2027.

A well-established network of automotive parts and materials manufacturers supports the region’s strength in advanced manufacturing. Companies include Niterra North America (formerly NGK Spark Plugs), Gestamp, Sogefi, Diamond Electric, K.S. of West Virginia, Nippon Thermostat and Rubberlite, producing products ranging from spark plugs, sensors and ignition coils to metal automotive components, filtration systems, stamped parts, thermostats and engineered polymer materials. Niterra alone employs more than 500 people at its Sissonville manufacturing campus, while Gestamp maintains a major metal automotive components operation in South Charleston.

Advantage Valley’s 621,300-person labor shed supports automotive and advanced manufacturing employers with talent trained in welding, machining, mechatronics, robotics, engineering and other technical fields. Three Interstates—I-64, I-77 and I-79—combine with CSX and Norfolk Southern rail, Ohio River barge access and commercial air service to connect automotive suppliers efficiently with OEMs, customers and markets throughout the eastern United States.