Mercedes-Benz has begun production of the C-Class sedan at its U.S. plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where the M-, R- and GL-Class SUVs are currently being built. The U.S. plant is the third location worldwide where the C-Class is built, with the sedan being made for the first time on U.S. soil.
The Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan is the first model to be produced on four continents: Europe (Bremen, Germany), Africa (East London, South Africa), North America (Tuscaloosa, U.S.) and Asia (Beijing, China).
“With the successful start of production at the Tuscaloosa plant, we are expanding our C-Class capacities and are ready for the market launch in the USA and Canada in the fall. For the first time, the C-Class is manufactured also in Tuscaloosa – the team has done an excellent job in mastering this challenge,” said Markus Schäfer, Divisional Board Member Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production and Supply Chain Management.
Global production of the C-Class is controlled by the Bremen plant in its capacity as the so-called lead plant, from the tooling strategy to the training of workers from the international plants to production quality.
In total, some 500 employees from the international plants – among them more than 100 from Tuscaloosa – completed intensive training in Germany. The Tuscaloosa plant manufactured more than 185,000 vehicles in 2013 with more than 3,000 employees. Starting in 2015, the plant will also begin building the MLC, the production version of the Concept SUV Coupe.
By Dan Mihalascu
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