Mercedes-Benz M-Class Plant Exceeds 1998 Production Goals
28 December 1998
Mercedes-Benz M-Class Plant Exceeds 1998 Production Goals
TUSCALOOSA, Ala., Dec. 24 -- As it completes its first full
year of production, Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI) announced today
it had produced 68,727 M-Class vehicles at its plant here in 1998, surpassing
its production goal by nearly six percent or 3,727 units.
MBUSI's original target was to produce 65,000 M-Class vehicles this year,
with 275 units coming off the line daily in a two shift operation. Throughout
the year the company steadily increased its daily rate by increasing
efficiency and line speed, thereby reaching a new daily target of more than
340 vehicles coming off the line by the end of the year.
MBUSI currently produces V6, V8, 4 cylinder and right-hand-drive versions
of the M-Class for the world market. Next year, it will begin producing a
limited production, high-performance version of the M-Class.
"The men and women of the M-Class team have once again risen to the
occasion and exceeded our production goals this year. The hard work and
dedication of our team and our suppliers has enabled us to increase
production, while maintaining the high quality standards our customers expect
from a Mercedes-Benz," said MBUSI president and CEO Andreas Renschler. "1999
will be challenging as we continue to increase production capacity, add
product variations and enhancements to the M-Class and begin supplemental
production in Europe. This team continues to raise the expectations of what
it can accomplish, and I am honored to have been part of it."
Currently more than 1,600 employees work at MBUSI, originally estimated to
be up to 1,500 by the end of the decade.
To meet the overwhelming worldwide demand for the M-Class, the company
made a $40 million investment this year and hired additional employees to
increase annual capacity by 20 percent for a total of over 80,000 units in
1999.
To further satisfy immediate demand in Europe, MBUSI is preparing to
produce up to 30,000 M-Class vehicles annually at the Steyr-Daimler-Puch plant
in Graz, Austria. MBUSI is finalizing the logistics plan and information
technology infrastructure which will allow it to schedule and ship parts and
modules from its suppliers to Austria. It will open a consolidation and re-
pack center near Birmingham, Ala., in order to help ship M-Class parts to
Austria from its dedicated suppliers. The consolidation center, which will
open early next year, will separate incoming NAFTA parts and modules based on
whether they are going to Tuscaloosa or Graz. It will also re-pack the body
stampings in order to prevent salt-water corrosion during transatlantic
shipping. Production teams from Austria have been in Tuscaloosa training to
build the M-Class. Production in Graz will begin in mid-1999.
The company recently announced it will invest an additional $40 million in
the Tuscaloosa plant in 1999 in order to accommodate future product variations
and enhancements that will occur during the next several years. The
investment will also enable the plant to support the supplemental M-Class
production in Graz, and continue to increase its efficiency and productivity.
To follow are some of the milestones MBUSI celebrated in 1998.
* In January, the M-Class was named "North American Truck of the Year."
* In March, MBUSI successfully introduced the ML320 in Europe
* In May, MBUSI began producing more than 300 vehicles a day.
* In June, the 50,000th M-Class rolled off the line.
* In September, the ML430 went on sale in North American, while the
right-hand-drive M-Class went on sale in the United Kingdom, Japan and
Australia.
* September 30, MBUSI celebrated its five year anniversary in Alabama.
* December 23/24, MBUSI exceeded production goals for 1998.
MBUSI is a member of the DaimlerChrysler AG Group.