• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • First Look: Kia Pushes Boundaries with New EV9
  • Lucid Moves to Cut 1,300 Employees
  • Rebooted Meyers Manx Returns to Its Racing Roots, Sponsors NORRA 1000 Race
  • Spring Cleaning Includes Your Car
  • Fifty Million Apartment Dwellers Need a Way to Plug In
  • Tesla Back in Court on $137M Race Discrimination Suit
  • E-Fuels Provide a Lifeline for Ferrari and Porsche
  • Upstart Fain Sworn in as UAW President on Eve of Bargaining Convention
  • Week Ahead: UAW Gets a New Leader
  • The Rearview Mirror: Ford’s High-End Failure
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
      • Feeder
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • A Week With: 2023 Volkswagen ID.4 AWD Pro S
    • A Week With: 2023 Infiniti QX80
    • A Week With: 2023 Genesis GV80 Prestige 3.5 Turbo
    • First Drive: 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T
    • First Drive: 2023 Dodge Hornet GT
    • First Drive: 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70
    • First Drive: 2023 Nissan Ariya e-4orce AWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Jeep Compass Limited
    • A Week With: 2023 Cadillac Escalade V-Series
    • A Week With: 2023 Volvo XC40 AWD Ultimate
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Automobiles > Mercedes Moves Closer to Launch of New SUV Family

        Mercedes Moves Closer to Launch of New SUV Family

        Alabama plant will build part of the battery-based family in future.

        Joseph Szczesny
        Joseph Szczesny , Executive Editor
        Sept. 22, 2017
        Mercedes will build its EQC, an SUV-style electric vehicle for the 2019 model year.

        Mercedes-Benz isn’t ready just yet to say when it will bring out the EV version of a sport-utility vehicle under the EQ brand, which was first unveiled a year ago at the Paris Auto Show.

        Markus Schaefer, member of the Divisional Board of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production and Supply Chain, declined to tell reporters during a press conference at the Mercedes-Benz plant outside Tuscaloosa, when the plant would build its first electric vehicle.

        Product News!

        Major automakers such as Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, BMW, Toyota, General Motors and Ford are all lining up to build new EVs, but the market outlook for the vehicles still remains uncertain despite pressure from national and local governments around the world, which are concerned about pollution from vehicles in major urban centers.

        By 2022, Daimler AG plans to electrify the entire portfolio of Mercedes-Benz, offering customers at least one electrified alternative in all segments from smart to large SUVs. Overall, Mercedes-Benz is planning to offer more than 50 electrified vehicle variants. At the same time, Mercedes-Benz will be continuously supporting the development of plug-in hybrids and the introduction of 48-volt-systems, Schaefer said.

        (Daimler AG investing $1B in Tuscaloosa plant to electrify SUVs. For the story, Click Here.)

        The first EQ series model, EQC, will go into production in 2019 in Bremen, Germany.

        Daimler is investing $1 billion into its Tuscaloosa, Alabama, facility to ensure it can produce EVs and the batteries to run them.

        However, the Tuscaloosa plant will be ready to start building pilot versions of next generation of Mercedes-Benz utility vehicles by December in preparation for a launch of the new models in 2018, Schaefer told employees during a “team” meeting where he officially announced Daimler AG’s plans to invest an additional $1 billion in the Tuscaloosa site.

        The popularity of the SUVs built in Alabama has helped make Mercedes-Benz the top selling luxury vehicle in the world.

        The new investment will create an additional 600 jobs at a new battery plant; a logistics center to expedite exports both finished vehicle and CKD kits as well as preparations for production of EQ branded vehicles in Alabama.

        (Click Here for more about the EQ A concept.)

        The preparations for launch of the new vehicles include the construction of a new, highly automated $1.3 billion body shop that includes more 1-million square feet of floor space, roughly 1,000 robots and more than 100 automatic guided vehicles that bring material to the work stations.

        The new body shop by control center that is capable of collecting data from throughout the body shop and using to check continually the work in process, engineers in the control center said.

        The data collection process, which Mercedes has dubbed “Industry 4.0” also can be used to spot faulty equipment before it fails and to predict which piece of equipment is likely to malfunction by analyzing information about vibrations and data in real-time.

        The application of digital tools to manufacturing processes will lead to greater efficiency, engineers added. The expansion makes Tuscaloosa one of the “smartest” automotive plants in the world. MBUSI in Tuscaloosa currently builds the GLE, GLS and GLE Coupe utility vehicles that are exported to more than 80 countries worldwide as well as the C-Class sedan for markets in North America.

        (To see more about the plans to split Mercedes-Benz into three units, Click Here.)

        In 2016, the plant produced more than 310,000 vehicles and is expected to match the total again this year. MBUSI currently employs more than 3,700 team members and supports 7,000-plus jobs on the approximately 1,000-acre site.

        How to Care for Your Car

        Cheap Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice

        Best Extended Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice
        Recently Published
        Kia EV9 front 3-4

        First Look: Kia Pushes Boundaries with New EV9

        Today
        Lucid pre-delivery inspecton line Sept 2021

        Lucid Moves to Cut 1,300 Employees

        Today
        Meyers Manx on the NORRA 1000 2022

        Rebooted Meyers Manx Returns to Its Racing Roots, Sponsors NORRA 1000 Race

        Today

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2023
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: