KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A new study shows that motor vehicle exports from Tennessee have more than doubled since 2000.
According to the Knoxville News Sentinel (http://bit.ly/1fxeGTC ), the Middle Tennessee State University study says vehicles accounted for 8.5 percent of all state exports in 2014, up from 3.6 percent in 2000. That increase could make the automotive industry the state's largest export sector.
Tennessee has three auto assembly plants with Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Nissan in Smyrna and General Motors in Spring Hill. Nissan and Infiniti have engine plants on the same site in Decherd, which also build engines for export. The Infiniti facility assembles engines for Mercedes-Benz, as well as its own vehicles.
The state also has more than 900 parts-supplier plants, many of them in the Knoxville area.