GEORGIA ANGLE

It’s uncertain where a new auto plant to be built jointly by Toyota and Mazda will be located, but Georgia officials would welcome a second car manufacturing facility in addition to the Kia assembly operation near West Point.

The prospect of a new Toyota/Mazda auto factory could spark a fierce competition among states — including Georgia, which would dearly love to land a second plant to go along with Kia’s facility near West Point.

“The state of Georgia always defers to a company to discuss their active location projects,” Stefanie Paupeck Harper, a spokeswoman for the state economic development department, said in an email Friday.

But she also gave a pitch on the state’s attractiveness to the industry.

“Georgia is an ideal location for automotive manufacturing, as we have seen not only with the Kia plant in West Georgia but the hundreds of automotive suppliers that are located in the state,” Harper said.

“Automotive companies will not find another state that has a better combination of logistics, workforce, quality of life and proven record of success than Georgia.”

Georgia was in the running for a Volvo factory a few years ago, but the prize went to South Carolina. Georgia pitched a site along Interstate 16 west of Savannah that remains undeveloped and is close to ports, rail lines and interstates.