Mercedes, a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler AG, produced a record 95,558 vehicles in Vance last year, including the redesigned M-Class sport utility vehicle and the all-new R-Class sports tourer.
The German automaker sold 5,400 M-Class SUVs in December, a record month for the company, said Ron Mueller, manager of the sport utility and touring division of Mercedes-Benz USA. The rising sales for M-Class, which in 1997 became the first vehicle produced in Alabama, are an indication that the popular SUV "still has a lot of life left in it. In fact, it's gaining momentum with age," said Mueller. "At the rate we sold them (in December), that's more than 60,000 a year," he said. "That's insane! The M has performed just way beyond anybody's expectations."
Mueller said American consumers are still discovering the R-Class, a category-defying vehicle that combines an SUV with a sedan. Mercedes sold 5,000 of the vehicles during the last three months of 2005, including 2,400 in December, Mueller said. "It's gaining traction, particularly in New York and Los Angeles, and that's where the trend should catch on," Mueller said. "It's a very hot car for us right now, and we've just started launching it in Europe, where we think it's going to be huge. They embrace new concepts a lot faster than we do" in the United States, Mueller said.
The GL, now in test production at Vance, is a full-sized SUV that should have broad appeal, Mueller said. Its projected price in the mid-$50,000 range is $15,000 to $20,000 below the average prices for its chief competitors, he said. "It's going to be a heavy hitter for us. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see it take off the way the M-Class did," Mueller said. The M-Class, a so-called crossover SUV, had a 12-month waiting list less than two months after production started in Vance, according to Mercedes." per google gefunden
