Mercedes-Benz is already famous for its safety, comfort and durability, and the kind of money they spend on R&D. On Thursday, a new project has been announced which will cost Mercedes $1.3 billion. The company has made this huge investment to meet the production requirements at the Alabama production plant where the future generations of SUVs, powered by Mercedes diesel engines, petrol and the hybrid versions, will be produced.
A small amount of hybrid SUVs, that’s what this plant is currently producing, but after this expansion, the production capacity will increase significantly. That’s not all, the Tuscaloosa County plant is producing GLE SUV – known as the M-Class – as well as the GL-Class SUV, C-Class saloon, and GLE Coupe. The production was started here in 1997.
There is a new 1.3 million-square-foot body shop, the SUV assembly shop will also be expanded and there will be a lot of improvements everywhere, giving the plant a modernise look and allow Mercedes to produce a wider range of vehicles.
This new body shop – by employing a modular approach to manufacturing – will combine the innovative joining processes with latest lightweight technologies. After the complete digitisation of the production processes, the Alabama plant will be connected to Mercedes factories around the globe and it will also add flexibility.
Markus Schaefer, member of the Divisional Board for Mercedes-Benz Cars, said in a statement that: “In the next years we invest $1.3 billion in the expansion of our SUV production and turn the Mercedes-Benz plant Tuscaloosa into a high-tech location, in this way we can produce the next SUV generations even more flexibly, efficiently and in proven top quality.”
Project Gateway, this is what this expansion is called, said Jason Hoff, current head of Mercedes’ Alabama operations. He further added that since they have been the home of Mercedes SUVs for more than 20 years, and by calling this project the gateway to the future, they have further cemented their position.
This expansion is one of the largest single investments to date made by the German automaker in Alabama, bringing Mercedes’ total investment at about $5.8 billion. It also raised full-time Mercedes employees to 3,800, creating 300 new permanent positions, where 50 of them will be highly skilled.
