. Photo submitted
MERCEDES-BENZ introduces the all-new C-class sedan series

Nov. 1 to replace the popular 190-series.

eri

announces plans
for new facility

Mercedes-Benz chooses Alabama
as site of North American plant

lan auto Co.

AS PART of the company’s global strategy, Mercedes-Benz
plans to expand its operations to North America and tap
into a lucrative market segment not previously explored.

Just two weeks ago, after
months of speculation,
Mercedes-Benz AG of Germany
Officially announced the site of its
first U.S. passenger vehicle
manufacturing facility:
Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

At its new US$300 million pro-
duction plant, Mercedes-Benz will
produce ‘‘a new interpretation of
a sport-utility,’’ according to
Helmut Werner, chairman of
Mercedes-Benz AG (MBAG) in
Germany.

The new sport-utility truck will
be aggressively priced to compete
with extremely popular models
such as the Ford Explorer and
Jeep Grand Cherokee, an area
which Mercedes has not touched
in the past — both in terms of
price and vehicle segment.

* The new vehicle, which will roll
off the state-of-the-art facility
beginning in 1997, will allow
Mercedes to take advantage of the
lower manufacturing costs there,
and at the same time, give
Mercedes a chance to take a big-
ger slice of the growing truck
market in North America.

The construction of the new
plant on the 966-aere site will
begin in the spring of 1994.

“After an intense and thorough
site selection process, we found
that Tuscaloosa provides (he best
combination of those factors we
are seeking: a quality workforce, a
strong transportation network, a
university environment, business
vitality, and favorable quality of
life,’? said Werner.

The plant will be situated at the
town of Vance in Tuscaloosa
County, about 50 kilometres from
Alabama’s largest city, Birm-
ingham. It was selected out of
about [50 possible locations; each
one of them was carefully in-
vestigated by Mercedes over the
past several months during which
the media played a guessing game.

With a plan to produce more
than 60,000 vehicles for both the
domestic and international mar-

OVERDRIVE

ket, Tuscaloosa will benefit from
the creation of 1,500 local jobs
and some {0,000 additional jobs
through suppliers and other in-
dustries, which will directly or in-
directly supply parts to the new
plant.

MBAG has not released much
information about the upcoming
Sport-utility truck, but its com-
petitive pricing strategy and North
American-tailored specifications
~ along with Mercedes’ superb
reputation for quality — could
pose a real threat to Chrysler,
Ford and others.

MBAG is the second German
car company to enter the U.S. as
a passenger vehicle manufacturer,
following BMW which made the
announcement of its new plant
last year.

Another German carmaker,
Volkswagen, had a plant in the
U.S. producing Rabbits, but it
closed years ago.

The new Mercedes plant is not
only significant news at Ger-
many’s powerful automaker,
though. For the 1994 model year,
Mercedes-Benz is introducing an
all-new entry luxury sedan to

See Mercedes page 34

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