Germany – The model will now be made at four sites on four continents: East London (South Africa), Beijing (China) and Tuscaloosa (US) in addition to Bremen. Production will be ramped up at all locations over the next six months.
Bremen has overall control of global C-Class production, including tooling strategy and training, and the facility will receive more than €1 billion of investment from Daimler this year. The total investment in C-Class production over the next two years will amount to €2 billion.
Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the board of management of Daimler and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, said the company is “raising the bar in terms of production” with its multi-site ramp-up.
Production of the Class-C at Bremen will require changes in body-in-white (BIW): the material mix (50% more aluminium), manufacturing technologies and process monitoring. New installations in assembly include a technology centre for attaching the roof and a high-precision facility for measuring gaps.
According to Daimler, production process design has cut energy consumption per vehicle by 30%, partly through optimised building engineering and painting technology. Careful consideration of ergonomics has also improved working conditions for production personnel.
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