German carmaker Daimler AG has announced it will move some of its Mercedes Benz C-Class car production to its Vance, Alabama, plant in Tuscaloosa County, to take advantage of a growing market and lower production costs, as well as to avoid currency fluctuations. Production of the new generation of the C-Class is expected to begin there in 2014, and the company says up to 1,000 new workers could be hired in Alabama.
The C-Class will be the first sedan produced at the Alabama plant. Daimler says that the U.S. market is expected to grow, and it is "essential to have production facilities of the C-Class close to the market. The sedan version of the series is already the best-selling Mercedes-Benz model in the U.S. market."
The C-Class line, which includes a sedan, coupe and wagon, is currently built in Sindelfingen and Bremen, Germany, as well as in South Africa and China. The company plans to maintain employment levels at its Sindelfingen plant, but European production of the C-Class will be moved to the Bremen plant. In return, Sindelfingen will get production of the SL, a sports coupe, starting in 2014.
