Governor Bobby Jindal announced that Elio Motors plans to assemble new vehicles at the former General Motors Shreveport plant. The company plans to create 1,500 new direct jobs by late 2015. The company announced it will produce enclosed, three-wheeled vehicles capable of attaining a highway mileage rating of more than 80 mpg.

The company's manufacturing facility will occupy approximately 1 million square feet of the more than 3 million-square-foot, former GM site. The company will begin renovation of the facility in early 2013 in conjunction with the real estate transaction, followed by the production of prototypes. Elio Motors expects to begin commercial vehicle production in mid-2014, with significant hiring at the Shreveport facility to begin by the second quarter 2014 and full employment to be reached in late 2015.