Automotive
115 vehicle production and supply chain companies; 95,000 local employees
View the Cincinnati USA Partnership's automotive industry profile
From the design studio to the production line, Cincinnati USA has become a driving force at all levels of automotive manufacturing. The three-state region surrounding Cincinnati is a leader in power train and components production, with Ohio ranked second nationally (1.9 million vehicles annually), while Kentucky ranked fourth and Indiana fifth, in 2004.
Extensive Auto Investment
- 80% of North-American, light-vehicle production takes place in Ohio or within 500 miles of its borders
- In addition to being a major force in vehicle production, Ohio is also a leader in the number of tier-1, auto-parts suppliers. The state ranks second in the nation with 221 suppliers. Combined with 102 tier-1 suppliers in Indiana and 51 in Kentucky, the tri-state area surrounding Cincinnati USA accounts for more than 25% of the tier-1 suppliers in the United States
- Cincinnati USA is integral to the supply chain of many auto-related firms, with more than 108 out of 614 of Ohio's motor-vehicle-industry companies located in the Cincinnati-Dayton corridor
An Experienced Workforce
- A stable, productive workforce of 1.5 million within 50 miles
- 95,000 skilled workers are employed in Cincinnati USA's motor vehicle, metalworking and industrial machinery, and chemical and plastics industry clusters
Local Expertise
- TechSolve Inc., a manufacturing-consulting firm that has worked with General Motors, Ford and Honda of America, has become one of the driving forces behind the Smart Machine Platform Initiative (SMPI) , working toward developing an "intelligent" machine tool that can know its own capabilities and design appropriate steps toward solving process problems in real time.
- The University of Cincinnati's Leather Research Laboratory serves the auto industry with research and testing services designed to reduce cracking, fading and stress wear of leather.
- Cincinnati USA is home to Gardner Publications' Automotive Design and Production, the only magazine covering the interrelationships between automotive product development and manufacturing processes.
- The ChemQuest Group Inc., an international strategic business management consulting firm headquartered in Cincinnati, is considered "best in its class" by a number of its strategic partners. They have significant expertise in the automotive industry, as well as the paints, coatings, resins, polymers, adhesives and sealants industries.
Education: Future of Industry
Engineering, research and workforce development is provided by the region's 25 universities and colleges, community colleges, and vocational schools.
- The University of Cincinnati is a leading resource for the automotive industry. The College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP), which consistently ranks as one of the top public design schools in the world for its various programs, is the only college in the nation where students of the renowned industrial design program can create "to size" auto parts in a Rapid Prototyping Center.
- UC students co-op at General Motors, Honda of America, EDS, Delphi, and firms abroad, such as Audi, Volkswagen, and BMW.
- A research initiative on fuel cells and advanced fuel-cell membranes is being conducted by the UC Chemical and Materials Engineering Department. The research is a critical part of Ohio's Third Frontier Project, a 10-year, $1.1 billion initiative designed to promote high-tech innovation.
- Miami University's School of Business offers a degree program in Supply Chain Management.
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Other local colleges and universities serving the automotive industry include:
For more information about the region's automotive cluster, please contact the Cincinnati USA Partnership at 513.579.3157 or the City of Cincinnati Economic Development Division at 513.352.2499 or edinfo@cincinnati-oh.gov.