Volvo has chosen South Carolina as the location for a $500-million assembly plant that will be its first U.S. vehicle manufacturing facility, the automaker has announced.

The new plant is expected to produce about 100,000 vehicles per year for the U.S. market to help Volvo reach that sales goal. Volvo will begin building the plant in the early autumn. The first vehicles are expected to roll off the asssembly line in 2018, according to the automaker.

The South Carolina plant will be built in Berkeley County due to its "easy access to international ports and infrastructure, a well-trained labour force, attractive investment environment and experience in the high tech manufacturing sector," according to Volvo. The plant will employ 4,000 workers.

Volvo announced it was building a U.S. plant in late March. The U.S. plant will give Volvo manufacturing facilities on three continents, including its exisiting two plants in Europe and two in China.

In March, South Carolina leaders drew Mercedes-Benz to the state. The company announced it would invest $500 million in a new van plant in Charleston to build the next-generation Sprinter.