A few days back I wrote about the Scout Motors plant going up in Blythewood and what it could mean for the Midlands. Scout promised that the plant would bring more than its own jobs: suppliers would follow. On October 28, the first of those promises got a name.
Brose Sitech, a car seat manufacturer, announced it will build its first U.S. manufacturing plant right on the Scout Motors campus in Richland County. Here’s what we know, straight from the sources.
What’s coming
According to the South Carolina Department of Commerce, Brose Sitech will invest $29.5 million and create 330 new jobs. The 140,000-square-foot facility will sit in the Scout Supplier Park in Blythewood and supply the Scout plant with complete car seat sets. Operations are expected to be online in 2027.
Brose Sitech’s own announcement says the Blythewood plant will build complete seating systems for the Scout Traveler SUV and the Scout Terra pickup, delivered “just in time” to the vehicle plant next door. Industry coverage from Automotive World notes that Brose Sitech is a joint venture between the German supplier Brose and Volkswagen Group, which owns Scout. The company is headquartered in Poland, has 22 locations worldwide, and runs its regional office in Detroit.
Scout Motors President and CEO Scott Keogh put it this way: “When we announced we would build an on-site Supplier Park at the Scout Motors Production Center last year, we promised it would lead to even more jobs, investment and economic prosperity in South Carolina. This announcement represents the beginning of that promise being fulfilled.”
Why I’m paying attention
I help folks buy homes all over the Midlands, in Columbia, Lexington, Irmo, Chapin, Blythewood, and beyond. When 330 new jobs land in one spot, those are 330 households that may be looking for a place to live, and many of them will be looking close to work. Blythewood, Northeast Columbia, Winnsboro, and the I-77 corridor are the obvious spots, but the ripple can reach across the whole region.
And this is just one supplier. Scout Motors announced the Supplier Park as an additional $300 million investment in its September 18, 2025 press release. Brose Sitech is one of the first suppliers to name the park as its home, and I’ll keep watching who comes next.
What it means if you’re thinking about buying
If you’re relocating for one of these jobs, or you already live here and expect more neighbors and more competition for homes, the best move is the same one I always recommend: get your financing lined up before you shop. Knowing what you qualify for lets you move with confidence when the right house shows up.
If you’re new to the area, or a veteran using your VA benefit, I’m happy to walk you through every step and shoot it straight. Give me a call at (803) 392-6044.
Sources: South Carolina Department of Commerce (https://www.sccommerce.com/newsroom/brose-sitech-selects-richland-county-first-us-manufacturing-facility); Office of Gov. Henry McMaster (https://governor.sc.gov/news/2026-10/brose-sitech-selects-richland-county-first-us-manufacturing-facility); Brose Sitech (https://www.brose-sitech.com/en/Media/News/2026-10-28-Brose-Sitech-establishes-US-footprint-with-new-manufacturing-location-in-Blythewood–South-Carolina~n312); The Post and Courier (https://www.postandcourier.com/columbia/business/brose-sitech-scout-motors-blythewood-factory-jobs-columbia/article_89192577-f563-4ea8-b388-7481c6a61fed.html); Automotive World (https://www.automotiveworld.com/news/brose-sitech-picks-south-carolina-for-first-us-seat-plant/); Scout Motors, Sept. 18, 2025 press release (https://www.scoutmotors.com/newsroom/scout-motors-makes-additional-usd300-million-investment-in-south-carolina-to).
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Scout Motors is coming to Blythewood, SC: What that means for Midlands buyers
If you’ve driven up I-77 toward Blythewood lately, you’ve seen it: the Scout Motors plant is one of the biggest things to happen to the Midlands in a long time. Here’s what we know so far, in plain terms.
The plant: Scout Motors is investing more than $2 billion in its Blythewood production center, a 1,100-plus-acre site about 20 minutes northeast of Columbia. The state of South Carolina backed the project with a $1.3 billion incentive package in 2023. Scout has also announced a $300 million supplier park on the same site.
The timeline: The plant welded its first test vehicle body in June 2026. Local reporting has described the plant as expected to open in 2027, and Scout has said customer deliveries are targeted for 2028. It will build the Scout Traveler SUV and Scout Terra pickup.
The jobs: Scout expects more than 4,000 permanent jobs at the plant, plus about 1,000 more in the supplier park. As of April 2026, Scout had more than 600 employees in South Carolina, opened a new training center near Blythewood, and reported that 17,000 people had signed up to show interest in working there.
What it could mean for the area: The Post and Courier reported this month that Blythewood keeps producing multimillion-dollar acreage listings, partly because of their closeness to the plant. Those are asking prices, not sales, and it’s too early to say how the plant will affect home prices overall. But if you’re thinking about buying in Blythewood, Northeast Columbia, or along the I-77 corridor, it’s worth knowing what’s coming down the road.
If you’re relocating for a job at Scout or one of its suppliers, or you just want to talk through what buying in the Midlands looks like right now, I’m happy to walk you through it, one step at a time.
Joel T. Wall
Guaranteed Rate Affinity, NMLS #406462Sources: Scout Motors production center updates (June and September 2026), blog.scoutmotors.com; WIS, Scout Motors training center opening (April 20, 2026); The State (February 2026); Post and Courier, Blythewood real estate (October 2, 2026).
Links:
https://blog.scoutmotors.com/june-2026-scout-motors-production-center-update/
https://blog.scoutmotors.com/september-2026-scout-motors-production-center-update/
https://www.wistv.com/2026/04/20/scout-motors-hold-grand-opening-blythewood-area-training-center/
https://www.thestate.com/news/local/article314652578.html
https://www.postandcourier.com/columbia/business/real-estate/blythewood-columbia-real-estate-lexington-county-plant/article_2ebe78a5-c401-44ad-9b85-2dd1bba408e0.html -
Midlands Market Update: Oct 2026
The Midlands housing market is giving buyers more room to negotiate than they’ve had in years. Columbia metro median sale price sits at $285,000, up about 2% from a year ago, but homes are taking longer to sell — around 51 days on market, up from 38 a year ago. Inventory is up roughly 20 to 30%, and about one in four listings had a price cut in September.
In Lexington County, Zillow puts the typical home value around $272,000, up about 1.6% year over year, and Redfin shows homes averaging 57 days on market.
What this means for buyers: more choice, more time, and more leverage on price and inspections. If you’ve been waiting for the right moment, this is it.
One tip: with about one in four listings already cut, sellers are motivated. If you’re buying now, ask about buy-down options. A buy-down lets the seller contribution be used to buy down the rate. In a market where sellers are already cutting prices, combining a price reduction with a buy-down is worth asking about.
Sources: Columbia metro figures from Hubrec’s Columbia SC Regional Real Estate Market Report (September 2026) and Realtor.com’s Columbia SC market report (October 2, 2026). Lexington County figures from Zillow (typical home value, as of September 30, 2026) and Redfin (days on market, three months ending September 2026).
