Manufacturing News
October 3, 2026
October 3, 2026 · St. Joseph County · Story 5 of 5
Studebaker Museum's 'Motor City, Indiana' Exhibit Reclaims Northern Indiana's Auto Legacy
The Studebaker National Museum in South Bend opened 'Motor City, Indiana' on Aug. 7, running through Jan. 31, 2027, an America 250 exhibit tracing how South Bend, Mishawaka, Elkhart and nearby towns built an early automotive hub before Detroit claimed the 'Motor City' name: spotlighting Studebaker alongside lesser-known manufacturers American Simplex Motor Car Company, Elcar, Pratt-Elkhart and Milburn, and the immigrant workforce that built the region's industrial base.
- Impact
- The exhibit's own backyard just lived a modern echo of its history: GM confirmed its exit from the Samsung SDI battery joint venture in New Carlisle on Aug. 11, 2026, handing Samsung SDI sole ownership as it pivots the plant from EV cells to grid-storage batteries, collapsing what St. Joseph County called the largest single investment in 75 years in under three years. That mirrors Studebaker itself abandoning its own 'Buzz Wagon' electric vehicles in 1911 after market demand shifted, a 115-year-old EV pivot story playing out again in the same corridor the museum isn't currently programming around.
- Watch
- Samsung SDI's targeted Dec. 31, 2027 substantial-completion date for the converted New Carlisle energy-storage plant, and whether final job-count figures fall short of the 1,700 positions GM's original EV-cell plan had promised.
- For the huddle
Now that New Carlisle's battery plant has pivoted from EV cells to grid storage, are we positioned to supply Samsung SDI's energy-storage production line the way we'd have supplied an EV gigafactory, or do we need a different sales pitch entirely?
From the brief, October 3, 2026
- The AES Indiana Rate Hike Rehearing Covers Two Issues, Your Bill Covers All of Them
- Amazon's $100 Million Greenwood Robotics Plant Opens a Supplier Question
- Supersede's Bristol Plant Bets Marine Plywood Prices Have Pushed RV Makers to Switch
- Cleveland-Cliffs: Fatality, Ontario Idling, and Indiana Workers Left on Contract Extensions
- Studebaker Museum's 'Motor City, Indiana' Exhibit Reclaims Northern Indiana's Auto Legacy
This story
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