Mercedes Will Break Ground on New Brazilian Factory in 2014

Brazil is becoming one of the fastest growing markets in the automotive world, and is the latest entrant into the market with its announcement that it will break ground on a new €170 million factory in 2014 that will be completed in 2016 to build the next generation C-ClassMercedes-Benz C-Class Gen.4Germany, 2007 > 2013188 versions
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and GLA-ClassMercedes-Benz GLA-ClassGermany, 2013 > present29 versions
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“Brazil is an important future market. With our local production we accept the challenge and take on the competition,” said Andreas Renschler, head of Production and Procurement at Mercedes-Benz Cars.

The new factory will be located in Iracemápolis, Brazil, near São Paulo and have an initial capacity of 20,000 vehicles a year. It will directly employ 1,000 workers plus create about 3,000 workers at nearby suppliers.

“With the next generation of the C-Class and the GLA, we will be localizing two highly attractive products with top Mercedes quality, for which we see great potential in the Brazilian premium segment,” said Renschler.

While multiple automakers now build cars in Brazil, Mercedes is the only one that builds cars, trucks, buses and vans there.

It is not the only factory that Mercedes is working on in the Americas. Daimler and Nissan are working on a factory expansion for four-cylinder engines at Nissan’s factory in Decherd, Tennessee.