Once remote Texas is now a hot spot for automotive projects

Texas has been a busy state for auto industry investment as of late. Following a spate of major manufacturing projects in the past year for Toyota, Continental, Aisin and Navistar, Tesla announced in July that it will spend $1 billion to locate in Austin a second U.S. vehicle assembly plant to build electric pickups and semitrucks. Adriana Cruz, 55, the state's executive director of economic development and tourism, spoke this month with News Editor Lindsay Chappell about the outlook for more automotive investment there. Here are edited excerpts.