• Industry Overview

    • Thriving Automotive Industry Ecosystem

    A diverse, steadily growing ecosystem of automotive manufacturers, innovators, and customers already thrives in Virginia, with ready access to specialized supply chains and a strong manufacturing base. The Commonwealth’s automotive companies span the entire value chain and all major industry sub-sectors, including manufacturers of auto parts and tires, vehicle assembly operations, and suppliers of parts, materials, and subcomponents, among others. Industry leaders in Virginia include Volvo Trucks, Volkswagen, Micron, Eldor Corporation, Perrone Robotics, Tenneco, Mack Trucks, Yokohama and Toray.

    Dynamic Center of Automotive Innovation

    Virginia ranks 10th nationwide and third in the Southeast in research spending in areas relevant to automotive manufacturing. In 2021, Virginia’s public universities invested more than $400 million in automotive research. Major automotive research centers include a Federal Highway Administration Highway Research Center; the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Vehicle Research Center; the Racing College of Virginia; and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute — a renowned center for transportation research, analysis, and development. Motorsports is a major contributor to automotive innovation, which has historical and cultural roots in Virginia. VIRginia International Raceway and other facilities throughout the state serve as test sites for the automotive industry. 

    Perrone Robotics

    Perrone Robotics, Inc. has been refining and manufacturing its autonomous car software at its Albemarle County headquarters and test track since 2003. In addition to its turnkey solutions kits, which allow existing vehicles to be retrofitted as autonomous vehicles, the company provides services ranging from last-mile shuttles to logistics and work site operations. 

    Read the full case study
    Perrone Robotics, Albemarle County

    Torc Robotics

    Torc Robotics was established in Blacksburg—at the birth of the self-driving vehicle revolution—by a team of Virginia Tech students who, after winning multiple robotics challenges, decided to commercialize their technology. The company has 15 years of experience in pioneering safety-critical, self-driving applications, as well as developing self-driving trucks with Daimler Trucks. While consumers dream of self-driving cars, industry leaders expect long-haul trucks will be the first vehicles to fully utilize the technology due to simpler driving environments and a stronger business case. Today, vehicles using Torc’s self-driving technology operate on multiple continents.

    Torc Robotics, Blacksburg

    The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

    The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), the second largest university-level transportation institute in the U.S., is committed to finding solutions to the greatest transportation challenges facing the world.

    Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI)

    Virginia Smart Roads at VTTI

    Virginia Smart Roads is a state-of-the-art, closed test-bed research facility managed by VTTI in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Transportation and is proving ground for new transportation technologies including commercial vehicle logistic technologies. The facility offers 2.5 miles of roads, a reconfigurable urban setting, weather towers to create a variety of conditions, and light towers to replicate most highway lighting conditions. Virginia Automated Corridors allows the testing of any automated vehicle on Virginia roads under the guidance of VTTI.

    Virginia Smart Roads at VTTI Rendering

    America’s Top State for Talent

    Ranked No. 1 in the U.S. for education by CNBC, Virginia is home to almost 250,000 workers in the automotive industry and related occupations.

    Business Facilities ranking #1 Customized Training 2025
    Wallethub #1 Best Public Schools in the South ranking graphic
    CNBC_#1_Education_2024

    A conversation with Mike Ownbey and J.B. Poindexter

    Morgan Olson Testimonial

    Morgan Olson Steps into Southern Virginia

    In 2019, Morgan Olson, North America’s leading manufacturer of all-aluminum walk-in step vans, announced the transformation of a 925,000-square-foot former furniture manufacturing plant in Pittsylvania County, into a state-of-the-art automotive manufacturing facility. Morgan Olson received support from the Commonwealth’s workforce initiative, the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program. The Program’s support ranged from training operators on assembly procedures to creating what is known as Morgan Olson’s Leadership Academy, an immersive program tackling topics such as emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, and managing across generations. 

    Read the full case study
    Morgan Olson, Pittsylvania County

    Strategic Location that Enables Global Connectivity

    Virginia’s central location provides important advantages for automotive and related companies, including proximity to major clusters of original equipment manufacturers (OEM) in the Midwest and the Southeast, as well as access to major hubs of economic activity along the Northeast corridor, across the Southeast, and throughout the Midwest. Virginia is also ideally positioned for the export and import of automotive products. 

    Virginia’s central location provides important advantages for automotive and related companies, including proximity to major clusters of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the Midwest and the Southeast

    Location Map by hours

    World-Class Logistics Infrastructure

    In Virginia, a modern and expanding network of roads, railways, ports, and airports allows for efficient operational logistics — domestically and internationally — and a consistent flow of cargo. Virginia’s transportation system is integrated with the Eastern United States’ vast network of highways, interstates, and double-stack freight rail. This transportation system connects several important manufacturing and population centers across the Southeast, Northeast, and the nation’s Heartland with The Port of Virginia’s three deepwater marine terminals in Norfolk Harbor and two inland port locations. The port, through its $1.4 billion Gateway Investment Project, is expanding its assets, capabilities, and reach and creating one of the most advanced ports in the Western Hemisphere. 

    2nd densest roadway and railway networks

    Second densest roadway and railway networks in the Southeast

    3,000 miles of railways

    Three thousand miles of railways (anchored by Class I railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern)

    300k+ tons

    Three-hundred thousand tons of air cargo handled annually by Washington Dulles International Airport

    America's Top State For Business

    Virginia is consistently ranked as a top location for business, and boasts a stable pro-business climate. Virginia is a right-to-work state with the 5th-lowest private-sector unionization rate in the U.S. at 2.4%.

    CNBC_#1_Business_2024
    Businesss Facilities_#2_Business Climate_2022
    Ranking Top Regulatory Environment
    Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., Fairfax County

    Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., Fairfax County

    A Welcoming Business Climate for Manufacturers

    • Virginia is the northernmost right-to-work state along the I-95 Corridor.
    • Virginia has had a stable 6% corporate income tax rate, one of the lowest in the nation, since 1972.
    • Sound economic policy and prudent financial management has earned Virginia a AAA credit rating since 1938 — longer than any other state.
    • Industrial users paid an average rate of 6.42 cents per kilowatt-hour in the winter of 2020, well below the national average of 6.61 cents per kilowatt-hour.
    • Virginia has a low natural disaster risk and is tied No. 4 among ‘States Most Prepared for a Disaster,’ according to 24/7 Wall Street.
    • With 450+ fully characterized development sites of 25 acres or larger, dozens of certified sites, and a growing inventory of spec buildings and virtual buildings, Virginia is constantly working to improve its portfolio of real estate options for manufacturing companies.

    Automotive Industry in Virginia

    View our brochure