After the start of C-Class production at the Bremen plant in Germany earlier this year, Mercedes-Benz has now begun building the premium sedan model in South Africa, at the East London plant.
The South African facility is the second of four locations to build the all-new C-Class, with Bremen and East London to be followed by Tuscaloosa in USA and Beijing in China within the next months. The new C-Class sedan is the first Mercedes-Benz model to be produced on four continents.
For the East London plant, this is the fourth generation of the C-Class. More than 200 employees from East London completed intensive training at the core plant in Bremen in order to ensure the same standards of quality in South Africa.
“The new C-Class marks another milestone for Mercedes-Benz in South Africa and for the East London plant. We have created 550 new jobs at the plant and have also made significant investments for the qualification of our staff,” said Arno van der Merwe, CEO and Vice President Manufacturing Mercedes-Benz South Africa.
Mercedes-Benz bought the East London plant in 1984, with the facility exporting sedans to right-hand-drive markets since 2000. Since 2007, it has also exported left-hand-drive vehicles to the U.S. The plant built more than 50,000 C-Class sedans in 2013.
By Dan Mihalascu
PHOTO GALLERY
