SOUTH BEND — SF Motors, a Chinese-owned electric vehicle start-up based in Silicon Valley, has agreed to buy AM General’s commercial assembly plant in Mishawaka for an undisclosed sum, the companies announced this morning.
The transaction, which includes the land, plant and certain manufacturing equipment, will not impact AM General’s military assembly plant or military-related business, which is its core business, according to a joint news release.
Under the terms of the agreement, SF Motors expects to retain — after a period of retooling — all of the current plant employees, preserving about 430 auto jobs, the release states.
Those jobs otherwise would have been lost with the expiration of the plant’s sole remaining commercial contract later this year, according to the release.
Since 2015 AM General’s Commercial Assembly plant has manufactured Mercedes-Benz R-Class luxury vehicles for Chinese buyers and the MV-1 wheelchair accessible vehicle for the U.S. market. That contract expires in October, however.
Nearly all of the employees are represented by United Auto Workers Local 5, the oldest continuously operating UAW local in the country, the release states.
Sokon has also committed to making about $30 million in “key upgrades” to the plant.