South Africa – The OEM’s East London plant has become the second manufacturing location for the model three months after the launch at Bremen, Germany.
Arno van der Merwe, CEO and vice-president Manufacturing, Mercedes-Benz South Africa, said the company has made “significant investments” for the qualification of personnel, referring to the 550 new recruits at East London. “This goes especially with regard to the host of innovative manufacturing technologies which have been introduced at the plant for the first time with the new C-Class,” he added.
More than 200 personnel from East London have received training in Germany in order to bring the necessary skills back to their home facility. Bremen is acting as the lead plant for everything from tooling strategy and training to production quality; a total of 500 international personnel have received training there.
The production launches at Bremen and East London will be followed by similar developments at Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Beijing, China, making the C-Class sedan the first Mercedes-Benz model to be made on four continents.
