A year after Panasonic chose Kansas over Oklahoma for a $4 billion EV battery plant, Oklahoma lost in a bid to land a multi[-billion dollar Volkswagen battery plant.
The company announced its decision Monday, saying it decided to build the plant in Canada.
“The Group and its battery company PowerCo have selected St. Thomas in Ontario, Canada to establish Volkswagen’s first overseas gigafactory for cell manufacturing, which will produce sustainable unified cells.”
Oklahoma was considered to be on VW’s short list of sites after the state legislature moved quickly to approve incentives. But the incentives weren’t enough and it was the latest blow to Gov. Kevin Stitt’s administration.
Three years ago, the State vied to land the new Tesla manufacturing plant which eventually was built in Austin, Texas.
Gov. Stitt reacted by stating it was disappointing.
“We would have rather seen those thousands of jobs come to the U.S., specifically Oklahoma, than go across the border to Canada,” said the governor in a statement.
“That said, Oklahoma has never been in a position to compete with an entire country for a major project, but that’s exactly what we did and it’s a testament to the hard work of state leaders in the Legislature and the Commerce Department who are making Oklahoma the most business-friendly state in the nation. Now we are right back to work pursuing additional opportunities in the pipeline and will continue our critical efforts to help companies who are already in Oklahoma expand and grow. I remain committed and optimistic that if we continue to work together, Oklahoma will land one of these historic opportunities.”