Isuzu North America Corp. broke ground on its Greenville County plant Oct. 1.
The facility represents a $280 million investment to establish the 1 million-square-foot location. The plant was first announced in February 2025 with operations expected to be online 2027. The location will be a manufacturing facility producing the motor company’s N-Series Gas, N-Series Electric and F-Series Diesel trucks.
The 200-plus acre site is located at 7755 Augusta Road south of Greenville.
Present at the groundbreaking were Gov. Henry McMaster; Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Shigeo Yamada; Noboru Murakami, chairman and CEO of Isuzu North America Corp.; and Isuzu Motors Limited CEO Masanori Katayama.
Murakami said a nationwide search was conducted before Greenville County was selected as the location for the plant. Some of the influential factors included its proximity to the Port of Charleston, an automotive production base, support from local and state government, infrastructure and a stable work force.
The location is expected to create about 800 jobs, Yamada said.
“South Carolina has been a welcoming host for many Japanese companies for many years,” Yamada said. “By now, about $9.2 billion have been invested by Japanese companies across South Carolina.”
Isuzu has been in the United States since 1984.
According to Yamada and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Japan is the largest foreign direct investor in the U.S. Yamada also noted a similarity between South Carolinians and Japanese citizens.
“After all, South Carolinians and Japanese share a common spirit that is here in South Carolina – Southern hospitality. In Japan, it’s called ‘omotenashi,'” he said. “Different in form, but same at heart. These represent our common desire, shared desire, to make others feel welcome, whether over a cup of sweet tea or a cup of green tea.”
Sharing culture
The leaders engaged in several symbolic acts of unity in addition to the traditional ground breaking, including gift presenting and the planting of a cherry blossom tree.
Katayama presented McMaster with a hand-crafted fan. The item represents prosperity branching out from a single starting point and represents the beginning of shared prosperity arising from the Isuzu facility. McMaster presented Katayama with a state seal and an Honorary Sandlapper award, given by governors to non-residents to express the state’s gratitude.
Katayama and McMaster also planted a cherry blossom tree, which represents new beginnings and hope in Japanese culture.
