FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Alabama will be the likely home of a new Volkswagen manufacturing plant, beating two other states, German industry newsletter Automobilwoche said on Saturday, citing senior company sources.

A VW spokesman said that a decision on the location of the plant had yet to be taken and that Alabama, Tennessee and Michigan remained in the running. A decision is expected by July 21, the spokesman said.

Daimler’s Mercedes Car Group has had a manufacturing plant in Alabama for years and ThyssenKrupp, an important supplier of automotive steel, is also opening a production facility in the state.