Mercedes-Benz Expects To Lose Most Of U.S. Staff In Move To Atlanta HQ

By leaving its longtime US headquarters in New Jersey, Mercedes-Benz USA could be looking at filling hundreds of open positions.

CEO Steve Cannon told Automotive News that less than 20 percent of Mercedes’ current 1,053 employees would move to their new Atlanta headquarters this summer. He said fewer than 300 were even asked to relocate.

Mercedes-Benz announced in January it would move its U.S. headquarters from Montvale, N.J. to the Atlanta area in July, with the expectation of building a new, permanent facility by 2017. In the move, the state of Georgia offered more than $23 million in incentives to get the company to relocate, with the expectation of 950 jobs coming with the move.

The location shift comes while the company is in the middle of a large product offensive, updating almost all of its product offerings in the next few years. The volume-selling C-Class was introduced last year and began production at its Alabama plant for the first time.

Cannon told AutoNews most of the company’s executive staff would be making the move to Atlanta.