Benteler to Build Autonomous Shuttle Factory in Florida

JACKSONVILLE, FL—Benteler Group’s Holon division plans to build a factory here that will assemble autonomous shuttles. When it opens in 2026, the 500,000-square-foot facility will mass-produce battery-powered vehicles that can carry up to 15 passengers and move at a top speed of 37 mph on public roads.

Applications for the driverless pods will include ride pooling, ride hailing and regularly scheduled transit operations. In addition to state and local goverrnments, potential customers are airports, amusement parks and zoos, colleges and universities, healthcare facilities and national parks.

“Today marks a significant milestone in the journey of our mover project,” says Henning von Watzdorf, CEO of Holon. “With openness and a supportive regulatory framework for autonomous vehicles, the U.S. offers an ideal environment for [our] industrial initiatives and Jacksonville has demonstrated tremendous enthusiasm for our vision from the beginning, making the city a national leader in the deployment of autonomous transit. We are deeply grateful to our partners and team for their tireless passion and hard work, which have made—and will continue to make—our expansion into the U.S. a reality.”

“We are thrilled to establish our first U.S. manufacturing plant in Jacksonville, marking a milestone not just for Holon, but for Florida, the United States and the global autonomous vehicle industry,” adds Petr Marijczuk, COO of Holon. “After an initial ramp-up phase, [we] anticipate creating up to 150 jobs by 2027. Our Jacksonville plant will produce approximately 5,000 autonomous movers annually, making them more accessible and quicker to the market worldwide."

According to local officials, the new facility will be “Florida’s first automotive vehicle manufacturer.” However, Ford Motor Co. actually produced Model T's in Jacksonville from 1925 to 1932.