With more than 1,000 auto industry companies and major commercial truck assembly operations, we rank among the nation’s largest auto parts manufacturers with major sectors in:
- Trucks, buses and heavy equipment – more than 60 companies.
- Aftermarket – at least 190 companies.
- Racing and motorsports – a $45 billion industry in the state
- Original equipment manufacturers – more than 160 companies.
North Carolina’s auto workers perform a variety of jobs for major manufacturers:
- Assemble school and transit buses for Thomas Built Buses.
- Manufacture heavy duty trucks for Freightliner, a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler.
- Build transmissions for AW North Carolina Inc.
- Produce construction machinery for Caterpillar.
- Make suspension components for ZF Lemforder.
- Assemble small engines for lawn mowers and power equipment for Honda Power Equipment Manufacturing.
- Manufacture power train equipment for Getrag Corp.
- Design high-performance race vehicles for NASCAR championship winners.
NASCAR and its Research and Development Center call our state home as well as 90% of the NASCAR teams who have their operations here. North Carolina also created and funded the non-profit Advanced Vehicle Research Center in Garysburg in 2006 to provide a modern automotive testing facility for use in the design, development, testing and certification of advanced vehicle technologies, sub-systems and components. Our other industry and higher education partnerships with area universities and community colleges address industrial needs through applied research and development, consulting, specialized worker training, manufacturing certification programs, and automotive curricula.
For more information, download the 
North Carolina Automotive Brochure.